This might be my favorite application of developmental research to the “real world,” ever.

The Harlem Children’s Zone is a nonprofit project with the goal of breaking the cycle of poverty, not by focusing on getting parents better educations or better jobs or better social supports–but by focusing on their children and starting from scratch. A big part of the intervention strategy is an 8-week program called Baby College, where new parents and parents-to-be learn the “secrets” of suburban parents–the behaviors and techniques that have been found to make a difference in children’s social and cognitive development. You see, research often shows that kids from disadvantaged homes do poorly compared to higher-income kids in areas like school achievement–but the differences don’t have anything to do with wealth; they have everything to do with parenting. So in Baby College, parents learn the importance of reading to their babies daily (helps with verbal IQ and school readiness), of talking to their little ones as much as they can (facilitates language and cognitive development), and of using non-corporal styles of punishment (aids the internalization of parents’ rules, creates less risk of aggressive behavior in the long run).

I could go on and on about the program, but a far better use of your time is to hear the inspiring This American Life episode that features Harlem Children’s Zone president Geoffrey Canada and the parents of Baby College. Or, learn more about the project here and here.

Many thanks to Sophie for outdoing herself on this one.