Program Information

The Hanen Centre began the development of the Learning Language and Loving It Program in order to provide early childhood educators with specialized training and resources on promoting children’s language, social and early literacy development.

Learning Language and Loving It is an evidence based program, which has been well-researched. It is designed to help educators make language learning a natural, enjoyable part of everyday activities and routines in any early childhood setting. It is based on the principle that there is no one special time for language learning. Washing hands, having a snack, reading a story, building with blocks or playing house are all prime opportunities for language learning – when a responsive, stimulating teacher is there to facilitate this.

Program Features:

• Delivered by a group leader with Hanen training (a speech-language pathologist or early childhood consultant) to a group of up to twenty educators.
• Intensive, with two major components:
  • 5-8 group training sessions (15-20 hours)
  • 4-6 individual videotaping and feedback sessions for each educator (educators’ interactions with children are videotaped by and reviewed with the group leader)
• Supported by user-friendly resources: guidebook, workbooks teacher videotape/DVD and a detailed leaders guide for the group leader.

What Educators learn:

Learning Language and Loving It teaches educators three groups of responsive interaction strategies that are known to promote children’s social, language and emergent literacy development;

• Child-oriented strategies – encourage children to initiate and engage in conversation interactions so that educators can provide responsive language input on the child’s topic of interest.
• Interaction-promoting strategies – encourage extended individual and group conversations between adults and children.
• Language-modeling strategies - expand the child’s oral language skills and facilitate the development of decontextualized language (abstract language that goes beyond the here-and-now).

Find out more about Learning Language and Loving It in resources in French.

For more information on the Learning Language and Loving It Program, please download the brochure

For information on becoming a LLLI Program Leader:

Click here if you are an SLP/T
Click here if you are an ECE

For information on finding a Hanen certified SLP/T trained to run the Learning Language and Loving It Program, click here