The 3T’s Early Learning Initiative

Setting Children on a Path to Success

Helping young children build strong language and early learning skills
starts from birth. 

Early language and literacy skills are important for success in school and in life, but early literacy is not about teaching babies to read. Instead, it is about creating warm, language‑rich moments through shared books and loving, back‑and‑forth conversations with parents and caregivers. These meaningful daily experiences build a strong foundation for communication, learning, and social development. 

Literacy Resources for Parents

Here are some great resources to help you, as a parent, build early literacy skills in your young children:

The 3T’s™—Tune In, Talk More, and Take Turns—are evidence-informed interaction strategies developed by 30 Million Words® at the University of Chicago. Our Early Learning Initiative adopts this framework as a shared language for supporting early learning. The University of Chicago’s TMW Center also offers The3Ts.org, a free online tool that teaches 3T’s strategies to parents and caregivers.