Talk/Read/Play a cooperative initiative

Talk Read Play


WATERTOWN — If you really want to help kids, you can make the most difference while they’re young.

Helping local parents and communities maximize their children’s learning and development at an early age is the goal of a new initiative being funded by the Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation. Cooperating in this effort are the Jefferson County Health Department, Jefferson County Human Services Department, and numerous other area agencies, nonprofits and professional organizations in the field of child development.

The Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation got its start in 2015, when the Watertown hospital was sold to a private entity and the hospital’s community foundation rolled over into the new foundation.

Since 2017, the foundation has invested more than $2.5 million in health enhancement initiatives across Dodge and Jefferson counties.Following its formation, the foundation spent a year doing a local health needs assessment, said Tina Crave, president and CEO of the foundation. The goal of the assessment was to narrow the group’s efforts to top priority issues the foundation could focus on in hopes of maximizing its impact.

With this information in hand, planners determined that one of the group’s greatest priorities would be boosting early childhood development. Thus, the overarching campaign called “Every Child Thrives” was born.

More than 30 organizations across Dodge and Jefferson counties have signed on to “Every Child Thrives.”

The initiative set three key goals: lowering child abuse and neglect, making sure youngsters arrive at kindergarten “ready to learn,” and increasing local students’ reading proficiency by the third grade.

“Until third grade, students are learning to read, but after that, they’re reading to learn,” Crave said.

Studies have shown that youngsters who fail to master reading by the third grade face continued learning challenges, leading to more problems down the line, including employment and relationship challenges in adulthood.

The Every Child Thrives group developed three action teams, bringing in facilitators to determine the root causes of the three problems on which it was focusing.
Crave said one of the root causes was determined to be lack of awareness of how critical the early months and years of life are in terms of a child’s development.
The single greatest stimulus to learning and growth at this early age, research has shown, is a child’s experience with loving relationships and interactions with adults.

Obstacles that can get in the way of these very important relationships include electronics, heavy job demands, and parents who are struggling in other areas that prevent them from bringing their “best selves” to their parenting role.

“Our goal is to make parents aware of the importance of these early interactions and to provide the tools to allow parents to be a great ‘first teacher’ for their child,” Crave said.

Children are born ready to learn. In the first years of life, the brain makes a million new neural connections per second. By their fifth birthday, 90 percent of a child’s brain development has already happened, researchers have determined. But the brain doesn’t do this on its own, it depends on input from parents and others in the form of focused, loving interactions and conversations.

That’s where the new Talk/Read/Play initiative comes in, which already has been adopted as a priority strategy by more than 20 local partners, with more than 250 “trusted messengers” trained to date.

“When parents talk, read and play with their babies and young children, they have an enormous positive impact on brain development, a process referred to as ‘brain building,’” said Tarasa Lown, a program officer for the initiative.

This need not take a whole lot of time, Crave noted. Important interactions can be worked right into the daily rhythm, during shopping trips, dishwashing and bathtime.

Thus, the Talk/Read/Play campaign is designed to give parents the tools to foster this early growth and development with brief, creative interactions, backed up by the science behind brain development.

The campaign, the full name of which is “Talk/Read/Play with Your Child Every Day,” will have three fronts.

First, organizers hope to spread the word to “trusted messengers” throughout the community, from doctors and nurses to librarians, community volunteers, early childhood educators, members of the faith community and more, people and families interact with on a regular basis who are in a trusted position.

Second, organizers are offering parents a free, easy-to-use tool in the form of the “Daily Vroom” app, available in both English and Spanish.

This is a free app that parents can sign up for just by entering their child’s birthdate. Then every day, the app will suggest a “surprise activity” that could be as simple as having the child pick up a leaf from the ground and determine the tree from which it came.

Other simple suggestions include telling stories to babies, singing to them in the tub, talking about favorite family memories, or making a young child the star of his or her own story.

“When you tell children stories and sing songs in a fun way, you share the importance of language and music,” reads a Brain Building Tip on the Talk/Read/Play flyer. “Your baby is hearing new sounds and words, making connections by listening to your stories and songs.”

“Interacting with children doesn’t come naturally to everyone — especially when the child is too young to respond,” Crave said. “These are easy ideas that everybody can do.”

The Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation representative said that the “Daily Vroom” app is gaining traction nationally among child development experts and advocates. In Wisconsin, Dodge and Jefferson counties are among those taking the lead, and the app is also being promoted in Milwaukee through the Betty Brinn Museum.

Third, organizers will be reinforcing the “Talk/Read/Play” message in local communities through posters in exam rooms and libraries, billboards, radio messages, lawn signs and more.

In addition, the group has developed a website to connect parents with information and resources. Developed by the Dodge/Jefferson county group, it can be found online at talkreadplaywi.com. It has a “.wi” web address because many of the agencies and organizations that the Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation is working with serve multiple counties and this was more inclusive.
The foundation only just has begun the process of rolling out the Talk/Read/Play initiative.

The group distributed information at the recent Johnson Creek Child Safety Fair, and the campaign officially kicked off last Saturday at the Watertown Public Library, the first dedicated community space for the campaign.
As a public Talk/Read/Play site, the library is decorated with posters, information, and interactive tools. Signs in the library challenge youngsters to spot all of the circles or red shapes, for example.

“We plan to spend a year to 18 months rolling this out,” Crave said. During that time, organizers will be working with all of the foundation’s partners to integrate the Talk/Read/Play message and related information into their operations.
For example, home visitors from the Jefferson County Health Department will be educated on the campaign, as will representatives of Child Protective Services, which will have information on how Talk/Read/Play can serve as a tool for foster families.

“Overall, we’re committing to a five-year effort,” Crave said. “We want to help our partners embed these tools into their daily practices.”
The community education campaign will be publicizing Talk/Read/Play on a variety of fronts.

This fall, organizers are working with various community partners to develop a Talk/Read/Play playground and a Talk/Read/Play storytime for young children at local librar(ies) and family center(s).

Meanwhile, representatives actively are training a variety of community “trusted messengers,” as well as offering presentations for groups of professionals or service organizations interested in learning more.

Crave noted that anyone interested in having a representative speak to their group about Talk/Read/Play may indicate that interest on the Talk/Read/Play website, located at talkreadplaywi.com, or call the Greater Watertown Community Foundation at (920) 390-4000.

More information about Talk/Read/Play is also available on the initiative’s Facebook page, which offers brain-building activities, parenting tips, news on family-oriented community events and more. More information about the foundation is available on www.watertownhealthfoundation.com