LearningGames: The Abecedarian Curriculum

The Creative Curriculum® LearningGames® are a series of award-winning, research-validated early learning activities originally developed for the Abecedarian Project. One of the most studied early intervention projects in the world, the Abecedarian Project provided child-care-based intervention for at-risk children from birth to 60 months of age and tracked and evaluated children and families until the children turned 30. Research results have been published in over 100 articles in journals such as Child Development and Pediatrics and reported on by Newsweek, Time, and all major network news programs.

Positive benefits for children who received the Abecedarian intervention included:

  • Higher IQ detected as early as 18 months of age
  • More engagement with persons and objects in the preschool years
  • Improved school performance in reading and math
  • Reduced retention in grade
  • Fewer special education placements
  • Higher likelihood of attending a 4-year college
  • Delayed childbearing

The data on Abecedarian participants at age 30 are currently being collected and analyzed. The results will be released in 2009.

The positive findings from the Abecedarian Project have been replicated in two additional longitudinal studies that also used LearningGames as part of their interventions. Project CARE (Carolina Approach to Responsive Education) provided enriched childcare, plus home visiting services utilizing LearningGames, for at-risk children from birth to 60 months of age.  View more detailed information about this study from "North Carolina: Home of One of the World's Most Renowned Early Childhood Research Projects" by Joseph Sparling, Senior Curriculum and Research Advisor, MindNurture Inc.

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

Read a more detailed summary of the research findings from the Abecedarian Project (PDF).