Vroom - The Campaign for Grade
Transcription
Vroom - The Campaign for Grade
F2F Huddle, April 23-25, San Francisco Campaign for Grade Level Reading Background Advances in neuroscience confirm what many of us have long known: the first five years of life are critically important to children’s future learning and success. Every time we connect with young children, it’s not just their eyes that light up—it’s their brains too. In these moments, half a million neurons fire at once, taking in all the things we say and do. Inspired by this compelling research, the Bezos Family Foundation has worked with scientists, community leaders, families, and product makers to create Vroom—a new initiative empowering parents and caregivers to play a proactive role in their children’s early brain development. Vroom makes it easy for parents and caregivers to have a positive impact on their children’s brain development by turning routine, shared moments into brain building moments. Whether it’s mealtime, bathtime, or anytime in between, there are always ways to nurture our children’s growing minds. Our goal is to support parents throughout their daily journey with affirming, reinforcing brain building messages by leveraging the people and networks that surround them and the products they use everyday. Roll-Out After a four month regional pilot project in 2014, the Bezos Family Foundation is launching Vroom nationally, in partnership with cities, communities, states, and national non-profits. In communities where Vroom takes hold, brain building prompts will be found in the home, in the neighborhood, on-the-go, and through trusted networks such as community-based organizations, religious institutions, and social-service agencies. As Vroom gains momentum and the brand becomes ubiquitous, we hope the name and logo alone will become a trigger for brain building interactions. Vroom was designed to be owned, adopted, and driven by others. Many of the tools are readily available open-source: they can be downloaded for free, reproduced inexpensively, or purchased at-cost from our distributor. The goal is to enable anyone to activate Vroom and use the tools. For direct-service providers, local community-based organizations, or government-funded national programs, Vroom can layer onto existing outreach or service models. Based on the pilot, we know the greatest potential for impact exists through a comprehensive integration of Vroom tools that ensures a “surround” approach—reaching families in the moments they already share with their children. These tactics might include investing in physical materials to share with families, using the free digital tools, training for staff, and creating connections with other programs and community resources. In addition to our continued funding of early brain research, our commitment is to provide beautifully designed materials that have been vetted by families. We will continue to build national partnerships that individual providers will be able to leverage, and we will share best practices from the field, as well as provide ongoing thought leadership and support. Ultimately, we will look to partners, the true experts on the families and communities they serve, to drive and oversee the integration. 1 www.joinvroom.org Vroom Materials Across all Vroom mediums and materials, content is designed to promote language development, executive function skills, and “serve and return” interactions between children and adults in their lives—the kinds of interactions we now know develop a young brain and create a strong foundation by building brain architecture. Vroom Tip Cards The Vroom Tip Cards provide parents and caregivers with fun, simple activities for engaging with their children. Each tip includes a Brainy Background, which explains how the interaction supports brain development. Daily Vroom app The app sends parents daily, personalized, age-appropriate Vroom Tips. Parents can also pick a Vroom Tip based on location or activity. The multi-child option can be used by parents and providers with children in different age groups. Users earn badges, level up, and unlock new features with repeated and continued use. Daily Vroom is available on Android, iOS, and Fire Phones. Brain Building Basics find out more Brain Building Basics joinvroom.org 5 things to remember for building your child’s brain 1. Look 2. Chat Make eye contact so you and your child are looking at each other. Talk about the things you see, hear and do together, and explain what’s happening A Brand New Brain Every baby is born with a brain that around you. contains hundreds of billions of neurons. Ready For Anything 3. Follow 4. Stretch 5. Take Turns Take your child's lead by responding to their sounds and actions, even before they are old enough to talk. When they do start talking, ask follow up questions like “What do you think...?” or “Why did you like that?”" From day one, those neurons connect– and the brain begins to get wired for life. Learning Like Lightning The brain is wired to grow–in the first five years, it makes 700 neural connections every single second! The Brain Story There no time life when Make eachismoment longerin by building upon the what yourdevelops child does andmore says. brain rapidly than during the first five years. Here’s a glimpse at all that’s taking place inside your baby’s brain! The Brain Building Basics (Look, Chat, Follow, Stretch, and Take Turns) are a distillation of the science behind Vroom. They turn the science into actionable ways for parents and caregivers to interact with their children. Communication Is Key Above all, there’s one thing that helps young brains grow strong: adult-child relationships. Hi, Baby Even kids that can’t yet talk are looking, listening and relating to you non-stop. With sounds, words, faces and actions, go back and forth to create a conversation or a game. You Are A Brain Builder Every time you interact with a child you’re doing something major: shaping a growing mind. Nurture Future Greatness The first five years are when the brain builds its foundation–so kids can thrive as adults. Vroom! We know this for sure: learning doesn’t start at school… it begins at birth. It Begins With You © 2014 Vroom All Rights Reserved Visit joinvroom.org to learn how you can be a brain builder. Brain Story This illustration condenses the science behind Vroom into an easy to understand and visual way. Vroom Videos We’ve developed a suite of videos to support and reinforce brain building behavior and messages. Vroom Digital JoinVroom.org serves as a portal for everyone involved in Vroom, highlighting the science behind Vroom, the materials and activities available, and the team that worked to bring Vroom to life. Our social media channels build community among parents and caregivers. Our digital platforms also allow for parent submitted tips. Once a parent submits a tip, Vroom adds the Brainy Background before sharing it with other parents and caregivers via the Daily Vroom app and other digital channels. 2 www.joinvroom.org