What is Chatterbox about?

Children who develop good language when they are very young have a head start in life.

There is a huge amount of evidence that links ongoing ability to learn and adapt, and good social integration, with early language and literacy development.

The goal of the Chatterbox project is for everyone growing up in Wairarapa to have the opportunity to develop the knowledge and skills to contribute to the social, cultural, and economic development of our region.

We want to help the whole community, and especially families, to establish the conditions where every child growing up in our community is happy, confident, and able to learn.

We know that the key to successful ongoing learning is great oral language development when children are very young.

Supporting children’s language development does not need specialist teachers or special equipment. Every adult who regularly interacts with growing children is in a powerful position to contribute to their language development without doing a lot that is different.

The Chatterbox project supports all adults who interact with children from birth until school:  parents, grandparents, caregivers, siblings, aunts and uncles, other family members, and close family friends.

Why are we doing this?

Wairarapa is a great place to live.

 We want to make it even better by trying to make sure every young person has the attitudes, skills, and knowledge to achieve whatever they want and to walk into a job employment-ready.

It will be an even better place when industries and businesses want to locate themselves in the Wairarapa because our people are highly adaptable, quick learners of new skills, and team players with highly developed communication skills.

Chatterbox is very grateful to the support from: