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Image of 12 Talk with Me Toolkits

 

Smithsonian Institution’s Talk with Me Toolkits (TMTs) provide parents and caregivers opportunities to talk with their children to improve critical thinking, vocabulary, and language development. The online TMTs are organized around a theme and feature questions and ideas about high-quality, authentic materials from Smithsonian’s digital collection of videos, photographs, paintings, and artworks. Twelve TMTs were adapted to provide caregivers’ ideas and questions to start conversations and interact with their children. At the end of each Toolkit there are several fun hands-on activities and books to further the interaction. The TMTs are a great resource for family literacy programs, libraries, and school family engagement programs. Go to the Smithsonian Learning Lab website for access to the 12 TMTs and the Goodling Institute's Goal #2: Professional Development tab for the implementation manual and various links to webinars and presentations.