the foundation for lifelong literacy is built before children turn five.
what is bama talks?
Bama Talks believes that when we invest in children early, our entire community wins. Our evidence based curriculum and cutting edge technology work together to increase the number of words children hear from adult caregivers. In partnership with the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education, we're making that innovation available (at no cost) to communities across the state. Apply below to join us in making sure every child in Alabama is kindergarten, college, and career ready.
did you know?
Babies need to hear about 21,000 adult words daily for optimal brain development.
how does the program work?
children listen
Every word we say to them is vital for early brain development.
LENA™ counts
LENA™ is a small, wearable accessory that measures words spoken to babies — providing aggregated data to measure adult words heard and conversational turns.
experts coach
A coach reviews the data and regularly meets with participants to explain how to increase the baby’s words heard, tailored to each caregiver’s unique needs.
how can you partner?
Alabama-based organizations can apply to bring one of our programs to their community. Selected organizations will receive access to curriculum, technology, books, and incentives for participating caregivers. Each of these programs can be run virtually or in person (depending on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic).
LENA Start
a 10 week series of small group parent education classes for nonprofits, churches, community organizations, or city/county governments
LENA Grow
a 12 week professional development program for childcare centers
LENA Home
a 9 session curriculum for home visiting programs
partnership timeline
March 15
Application Opens
April 2
Application Closes
April 7
Phone interview invitations sent
April 23
Decisions made