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About the 3Ts Program
The 3Ts program is about helping you set your child up for success. Learn, watch videos, and unlock tips designed for parents of infants and toddlers.
These resources are designed to help parents understand the critical role they play in their children’s (birth to age 3) brain development and, more importantly, teach parents ways to turn that knowledge into action.
Over the past 10+ years, pediatric surgeon Dr. Dana Suskind and her team at the TMW Center for Early Learning and Public Health (TMW Center) at the University of Chicago have developed programs that place parents and caregivers at the center of their children’s education.
Parents who participate in TMW Center programs provide their children with a richer language environment including more back-and-forth conversation. This is especially notable, as emerging neuroscientific research demonstrates that children exposed to more conversational turns have increased brain activation and ultimately stronger skill formation.
What are the 3Ts?
At the core of all TMW programs is the 3Ts – Tune In, Talk More, and Take Turns – a simple, yet powerful tool to help parents make the most of everyday interactions with their children. The 3Ts help parents optimize the power of language in everyday moments.
- Tune In: Be in the moment.
- Talk More: Use a wide variety of words.
- Take Turns: Engage your child in conversation.
The 3Ts don’t cost anything or require extra time out of a busy day. They can be used anytime, anywhere to build a child’s brain.
For Parents
The 3Ts Digital Tool, available for free on any smartphone, tablet or computer in English and Spanish, supports parents and promotes meaningful community partner involvement.
Parents are guided through lessons that share the science of foundational brain development, teach 3Ts strategies, and feature videos of parents using the 3Ts in everyday settings. In this short course, parents develop critical knowledge and actionable skills.
Parents can register at the3ts.org and immediately gain access to the resources.
For Community Organizations
There are many ways for partners to participate in and support Any Time is 3Ts Time, a community-driven suite of online, print, and in-person resources for families with children from birth to age 3.
Community organizations can register onAny Time is 3Ts Time Partner Portal
The Partner Portal is where you can access campaign resources, learn more about online staff training to become a 3Ts Ambassador and obtain information on community impact reporting. Registered organizations will appear in the 3Ts Digital Tool.
Print Resources and Digital Resource Guide
PNC Supports Any Time is 3Ts Time
The PNC Foundation awarded a grant to the TMW Center in 2014 to support a five-year study of TMW-Home Visiting, a program designed to help parents build their children's vocabularies for school readiness.
Preliminary results in the TMW Center study reveal that participating parents improved their toddler's language environments by increasing conversational turns almost four times more than parents in the control group. In 2019, The PNC Foundation awarded a second grant to the TMW Center to launch the Any Time is 3Ts Time campaign.
The grant also supports the implementation of Let's Talk!, a parent group program designed for deeper 3Ts engagement with in-person and online sessions and real-time coaching. The group program will be piloted in six of PNC’s markets including Chicago, St. Louis, Lexington, Washington D.C., Dallas, and Houston.
"We recognized an opportunity to develop high-quality, early educational resources for families with children under age three. Now, with proven research from the TMW Center, we are able to support their effort to make new resources accessible to millions of parents and caregivers across the country." -Sally McCrady, chair and president, PNC Foundation
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