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LearningGames: The Abecedarian Curriculum
LearningGames® is a series of research-validated early learning activities developed for the Abecedarian Project. This renowned project provided day-care based intervention for at-risk children from birth to 60 months of age. It is one of the most studied early intervention projects in the world, with the children and families tracked and evaluated until the children were 21 years of age. Research results have been published in at least 23 peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Child Development and Pediatrics.

Abecedarian research results have been reported on all major network news programs and described in national magazines including Newsweek and Time.

These are some of the positive benefits for the children who received the Abecedarian intervention:
  • Higher IQ detected as early as 18 months of age,
  • More engaged with persons and objects in the preschool years,
  • Improved school performance in reading and math,
  • Reduced retention in grade,
  • Fewer special education placements,
  • More likely to attend a 4-year college,
  • Delayed childbearing.
The Abecedarian age-30 data is currently being collected and analyzed. The results will be published in 2008.

Findings from the Abecedarian Project have been replicated in two additional longitudinal studies. The first study, Project CARE (Carolina Approach to Responsive Education), provided enriched childcare plus home visiting services for at-risk children from birth to 60 months of age.

The second longitudinal study, the Infant Health and Development Program (IHDP), provided a home visiting and enriched childcare intervention program in 8 states for low birthweight infants from birth through 36 months of age. A recent report in Pediatrics describes the age 18 results of this study; the children who received the intervention, including the LearningGames activities, scored better on vocabulary, math achievement, and reported fewer risky behaviors than the control group.

Download the PDF summarizing in more detail the research findings from the Abecedarian Project.
Validated by 21 Years of Abecedarian Research