Last week saw major national action on the “word gap” between low- and high-income children, spearheaded by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A Clinton Foundation initiative released a community campaign guide for local leaders across the country working to close the word gap, and Clinton held a surprise event in Brooklyn to launch a public awareness campaign on early vocabulary development.

The “Talking is Teaching Community Campaign Guide,” released by Too Small to Fail, provides content and resources that encourage parents to talk, read and sing with their children during everyday routines.

“This is a conversation we want to have with as many people as we possibly can reach,” said Clinton. “Everybody needs to be creative and smart about how we better prepare our kids for the future.”

The guide is designed to inform local efforts underway across the country. Clinton was on hand to help New York City First Lady Chirlane McCray launch the “Talk to Your Baby” campaign, just one of many initiatives nationwide aimed at closing the word gap.

“Although many parents and caregivers have performed the ritual of talking, reading and singing to children for generations, it does not always happen and it does not always come naturally,” said McCray. “Many parents do not understand why these adult-child interactions are so important.”

Research shows that children in low-income families hear as many as 30 million fewer words by age 3 than their more affluent peers. Without school readiness efforts, kids from low-income families may start school already behind.

Efforts are underway across the country to close that word gap. For example, the “Talk With Me Baby” campaign, led by Get Georgia Reading Campaign Director Arianne Weldon, provides early language exposure to babies in Georgia.