Investing in Kids and Research: Language and literacy network builds alliances with child development organization

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Investing in Kids and Research

Language and literacy network builds alliances
with child development organization

Kate Roberts, Networks of Centres of Excellence

Are educational computer games good for young children?

How do nursery rhymes help children develop language skills?

Should I take sign language classes with my baby?

How is reading to my child beneficial to his language development?

These are questions parents and teachers often raise during child development stages. Now, with the help of the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network, sound scientific answers about language and literacy development are making their way to the public.
Partnering with Invest in Kids—a national, charitable organization dedicated to the development of parenting skills—the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network has found a way to transfer the results of its research to a wide audience. Answers to questions such as those aforementioned can be found on the Invest in Kids Web site (www.investinkids.ca), along with many others concerning the social, emotional and intellectual development of young children.

“We’re taking questions posed by parents or professionals about language and literacy and getting the answers from the experts,” says Dr. Randy Lynn Newman, Postdoctoral Fellow working with Dr. Marc Joanisse in the Language, Reading and Cognitive Neuroscience lab at The University of Western Ontario. She is also The Student Network Executive Chair, who worked as liaison between Network researchers and Invest in Kids.

There are already a few answers posted on the Web site. Newman says many more are in the works.

The partnership is one of many under development by the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network to help share language and literacy research with practitioners and parents. “This joint arrangement between Invest in Kids and The Network is a great example of partnership in action,” says Scott Wells, Network Manager of Fund Development for the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network. “The willingness to combine our resources in pursuit of common goals will further strengthen language and literacy development and early learning for children in Canada.”

Invest in Kids started in 1993, and launched its Web site in November 2002. Dr. Liane Comeau, Manager of Research and Programs at Invest in Kids calls the relationship with The Network reciprocal: the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network needed a channel to reach the general public with its research, and Invest in Kids was looking for research-based content focused on children’s language development.

Comeau is responsible for creating the topics that appear on the Web site. Her graduate studies background in language development has taught her that this has long been a topic parents and teachers considered vital.

“Language and literacy is a very integral part of cognitive development,” says Comeau. “It was important for us to go after some quality content to be able to give parents and teachers very current and credible information.”

Numerous organizations provide information on children’s physical growth and health on the Web. Some tackle aspects of children’s psychological development. Invest in Kids is unique in its aim to be a comprehensive source on all aspects of development. It gives parents and caregivers practical information, in an easy-to-understand style, on various developmental domains—cognitive, social, emotional and physical.

“This is a unique organization in that it deals with children’s pre-literacy skills and many other preschool issues,” says Newman.
For example, many parents believe learning to read starts when their child begins school. But Newman says that’s not entirely true. Skills that children need begin to develop at birth, and throughout their first five years of life, children learn to understand the flow of language, its syntax, that reading is done from left to right and more. She hopes the Invest in Kids Web site will help make parents more aware.

It seems to be catching on. As one reader puts it, “I love this site. I have found information on many issues I am currently faced with and know that this will be my first source for information in the futu