About

WHO WE ARE

The Early Learning Lab consists of a committed group of students and professionals interested in investigating connections between families, children’s development, and future educational achievement. Our work draws from the human development, psychology, and education fields. Our specific projects involve studying the social interactions between children and adults, focusing on how parent-child conversations support children’s early language and literacy skills and scientific thinking. These skills are a strong predictor of future achievement, so understanding how they develop is important for informing interventions which can help strengthen the foundation for children’s academic success and curiosity. 

The Early Learning Lab is directed by Dr. Kathryn Leech, an Assistant Professor in UNC’s School of Education. The lab consists of doctoral students, undergraduate research assistants, and post-bacc researchers.

WHAT WE DO

Our work draws from the human development, psychology, and education fields to investigate connections between families, children’s development, and future educational achievement. Our specific projects involve studying the social interactions between children and adults, focusing on how parent-child conversations support children’s language and literacy skills prior to school entry. 

WHY IT MATTERS

Children’s language skills are a strong predictor of future achievement, so understanding how these skills develop in the first place is of critical importance. Our work focuses on parents — often children’s first teacher — to understand how they support learning and development during early childhood.