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Daily Interactions Study

Purpose of the Study

  • In line with the early childhood education mission to prepare children for success in school we would like to conduct a study to understand how children’s language environments in home and child care settings support their early learning.
  • We plan to examine predictors of children’s language environments and how they predict development of vocabulary, math, literacy, and executive function.
cartoon illustration of an adult and child ram with the text RAMS ChAT

Participants

We would like to recruit 25-50 families of 3-5 year old children and their preschool teachers

Research Activities

  • We will ask parents to complete a 20-minute survey, and place a LENA recording device on their child to collect a full-day audio recordings (~12 hours each) from a typical weekday where the child attends school and a typical weekend day during the fall and spring of the preschool year
    • Parents will receive $80 in the Fall 2025 and $80 in the Spring 2026 for their participation
  • We will ask teachers to complete a 20-minute survey and report any issues with the LENA classroom recording such as if the child got sick or if there was a fi re drills
    • Teachers will receive $30 in Fall 2025 and $30 in Spring 2025 for their participation
  • We will ask children to complete a set of developmentally appropriate assessments to measure their vocabulary, mathematics, and self-regulation skills
    • Children will receive stickers and a small toy for their participation
  • We will ask schools to help us secure a space to conduct the child assessments in alignment with organizational policies
  • View Daily Interactions Study Visual Graphics

Study Procedure

  • 2 LENA recordings will be collected in the Fall from September to December 2025
  • 2 LENA recordings will be collected in the Spring from February to May 2026
LENA Recording Device

LENA Recording

  • LENA technology has been used with over 120,000 children
  • The LENA recorder captures the number of words spoken and the number of conversational turns children have.
  • **Disclaimer:
    The LENA audio recording is automatically deleted it will not reveal voices, names, or anything identifiable. It only counts how many words and interactions.
    **

Contact Information

Please contact Dr. Rob Duncan, Email: rob.duncan@colostate.edu and Dr. Daniela Alvarez-Vargas, daniela.alvarez-vargas@colostate.edu if you have any questions or concerns.