Health Care Providers

During the first three years of life, the brain undergoes its most dramatic development. When this development is not nurtured, the brain’s architecture is adversely affected and young children fall behind in their development and learning.

Feed Me Words focuses on Language Nutrition to support brain development in infants, toddlers, and preschoolers through talking, reading, singing, and playing. These everyday moments, like bath time, meal time and bed time, provide opportunities to surround young children in a language rich environment.

Service providers, such as nurses, physicians, midwives, and other practitioners, can provide support to new parents by incorporating Serve and Return (also known as a conversational turn), Parentese (also know as motherese or child-directed speech), and Responsive Interactions, as they meet with the family.