Childhood literacy program to expand after Birmingham approves funding
The city of Birmingham has committed $1 million to expanding Birmingham Talks, a citywide program promoting early childhood literacy. With the funding, the organization is expected to more than triple its reach from 1,000 to 3,500 students across all 99 neighborhoods over the next three years.
“By 2025, approximately 20% of children who start school in Birmingham City Schools will have participated in one of these programs,” said Birmingham Talks Executive Director Ruth Ann Moss. “Funds from the city will go to scaling our program to provide more curriculum, more technology, more coaching, and then also high-quality books and educational toys for all the children who participate.”
Birmingham Talks, founded in 2019 and initially funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, provides personalized coaching and technology to parents, caregivers, teachers and child care centers to assist the development of vocabulary in children aged 0 to 5.
At a press conference Tuesday, Moss showed a toddler’s onesie with a specialized pocket for a “Fitbit for words” — a small piece of technology that records the number of words children are hearing and the number of times they interact with adults.
“Way before kids can pick up a pen or read a Russian novel, their brains are built by having verbal interactions with adults,” Moss said. “Children need to hear about 21,000 words a day for optimal brain development, and children who grow up in poverty are typically exposed to 4 million fewer words than their more affluent peers.”
Data generated by the “Fitbit for words” is used to create a strategy for increasing a child’s verbalization.
According to a press release from Birmingham Talks, “children who started the program in lower-talk environments increased the amount of conversation they were exposed to by approximately 50% over the course of 12 weeks.”
“When they get to school, at minimum they’ll be at grade level,” said Mayor Randall Woodfin, who added that he hopes the funding announcement “is a message to philanthropic leaders around the country: if you invest in Birmingham, we will build on that investment.”
A man impersonating an FBI agent tried to get Luigi Mangione out of jail, authorities say
A man claiming to be an FBI agent showed up to a federal jail in New York City on Wednesday night and told officers he had a court order to release Luigi Mangione, authorities said.
Trump says he will announce his Federal Reserve chair nominee on Friday morning
President said he plans to announce new Federal Reserve chair choice Friday, after criticizing incumbent Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates more aggressively.
Trump sues IRS and Treasury for $10 billion over leaked tax information
President Trump is suing the IRS and Treasury Department for $10 billion, accusing them of failing to prevent a leak of his tax information to news outlets.
How Democrats want to reform DHS – and why some Republicans are open to their demands
A spending agreement under consideration in the Senate would temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security while lawmakers negotiate provisions to rein in federal immigration agents.
With his first Grammy nomination, Destin Conrad embraces personal evolution
Destin Conrad went from teen social media star to a musician touring the world on some of its biggest stages. In 2025, he put out both an R&B and jazz album and earned his first Grammy nomination.
How the West was won: K-pop’s great assimilation gambit
The crossover hits stacking Grammy nods this year have little in common with the culture that birthed them — but they're winning the chart game.
