Digital Smarts - “Talk Pedometers” To Aid Early Literacy

Five US cities, including Detroit, are equipping toddlers with wearable devices nicknamed “Talk Pedometers” that count the number of words the children say and hear in a day, with the goal of increasing that number. The Providence Talks program, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, created the device that aims to help boost early literacy. The program tries to instill in parents "the habit of reading, the habit of talking, turning off electronics, playing with their children, getting that dedicated time and being a little bit deliberate about the back and forth with children, including asking them more certain kinds of questions”.