The Early Catastrophe: The 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3 - Reading Summary #1

          This article detailed a study of young children across different socio-economic strata over two and a half years. The article details research which shows that students from homes in poverty are exposed to a smaller variety of words and more negative words. These different levels of exposure to rich and varied language leave children in poverty at a tremendous disadvantage from age three, even if they take part in an intervention program.
          I was very interested in this article because I was raised in poverty but by people who read voraciously and had immense vocabularies. The friends I grew up with were realized on the same economic levels but without the access to books and conversation that I had. I see many reasons for this that aren't directly touched on in this article.
         It is easy for outsiders and researchers to assume that poor children just don't get read or talked to but that isn't the case. The difference is on the level of material. I remember my mom reading me, and making me read, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Wizard of Oz series while my friends were still being read Clifford the Big Red Dog. (I have nothing against Clifford BTW he is a great introduction to fantasy.)
         What really surprised me while I was reading was the drastic difference in negative comments about behavior from parents in poverty versus parents who were more comfortable monetarily. I wasn't prepared for a difference that big until I started thinking about it. I thought about my parents working eighty hours a week at jobs they hated just to break even and then I thought about myself working less hours at a job I love and realized OF COURSE I AM IN A BETTER MOOD THAN THEM! I am surprised they didn't beat all ten of us. We were rowdy and uncontrollable and they were in their 20s overworked and underpaid and probably just wanted a nap. I am 29 with a wonderful job and no kids... I may never complain about anything ever again.