VersaMe Expands Partnerships to Help All Children Reach their Intellectual Potential
Nonprofit, medical and foundation relationships help families give their kids the best start with language
MENLO PARK, Calif., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Education pioneer VersaMe today announced a partnership with the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) that will help to move their aligned mission of supporting families to help all children reach their full potential forward. VersaMe's flagship product, the Starling, is the world's first wearable word counter for children 0-4 years. VersaMe will partner with NCFL to make the Starling available to advance the NCFL's literacy and education programs that focus on supporting impoverished families.
The Starling counts the words exchanged between parents and young children. Through real-time feedback, parents are given the information they need to understand the importance and impact associated with the number of words their baby hears. Through this partnership, NCFL has provided Starlings to Detroit families participating in a nationwide vocabulary initiative. VersaMe will help support NCFL's efforts by tracking the families' progress over time.
"Studies show children from low-income families are hearing 30 million fewer words by age 4 than those from higher-income families. Quality conversations shared between parent and child will increase a child's vocabulary and better prepare them for academic success," said Sharon Darling, NCFL President and Founder. "We want to empower parents to view themselves as teachers, and the Starling supports our efforts. We are encouraged by this partnership and the opportunity it provides the families with whom we work."
Worn by infants and toddlers, the Starling is focused on the most formative stages of development, the first four years of life when 83 percent of brain growth occurs. All parents need to do is talk, sing and read with their babies. The Starling processes the audio signals from the verbal engagements, turning them into data that tells parents just how many words to which their baby is exposed. The Starling allows parents to set daily goals, and to complete weekly challenges with fun, verbal activity prompts and helpful tips.
"As we work toward fulfilling our mission of helping all children reach their full potential, this partnership with NCFL is an important first step," said Chris Boggiano, Co-Founder of VersaMe. "We plan to continue building partnerships with nonprofit organizations and foundations as well as education, speech and medical professionals who share our vision."
About VersaMe
Started by parents and driven by research, VersaMe has created the Starling, the world's first education wearable for infants and toddlers. The company is focused on building tools to improve child development during their most formative first four years. Born out of Stanford University, the Starling tracks verbal engagement between parents and young children. Whether a parent, a grandparent, a caregiver or a family friend, the Starling lets everyone play a role in building the educational foundation for future generations. To learn more and to start using your words with your kids, visit http://www.versame.com/.
About National Center for Families Learning
The National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) is a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing our nation's literacy challenges by engaging all family members in learning, with a primary focus on parents and children living in poverty. Pioneered by NCFL, the two-generation family literacy approach harnesses the power of parent-child bonds to help those who are most at risk of failing economically, emotionally, and socially reach their full potential. NCFL creates and deploys innovative two-generation programs, strategies, and online learning solutions that support learning, literacy, and family engagement in education. From the classroom to the community to the digital frontier, NCFL collaborates with educators, advocates, and policy-makers to help families construct hotspots for learning wherever they go.
For more information on NCFL's 27-year track record, visit familieslearning.org.
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SOURCE VersaMe
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