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Language Nutrition

Language Nutrition, and what parents can do for their child

Thom September 5, 2026 3 min read Books and reading

This piece belongs to a series of 100 posts written in memory of Thom's grandmother, published on her Facebook.

This is one of the important TED talks I have watched on literacy education, given by Dr Brenda Fitzgerald.

What is it that predicts the health and the wealth of a three-year-old child?

The answer is: LANGUAGE.

I love the study she refers to, the one carried out by Hart and Risley, who observed 42 families in order to understand which factors contribute to a child’s development. What is surprising is that the researchers found that a child’s all-round development is not decided by physical needs, by race, by sex or by how wealthy the family is, but by the interaction between parents and children. Constant talk and constant interaction stimulated the nerve cells and pushed learning forward, while a lack of words led to a falling-off in the ability to learn.

There is a great deal more of interest in it — do watch the video.

https://youtu.be/y8qc8Aa3weE?si=q02_GS8GrHAAwY9L

So talk to your baby. Talk to your child, more and more and more.

Dr Brenda Fitzgerald in a red jacket speaking on the TEDxAtlanta stage, the screen behind her showing her name; the subtitle at the bottom reads “There is a profound predictor of health and wealth” — Dr Brenda Fitzgerald during her talk at TEDxAtlanta.

Remember this — revisit it in a few days.

Language Nutrition

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