by Kitty Murphy

Created on: April 28, 2008   Last Updated: April 30, 2008

Raising intelligent children who are successful in school and are poised in social situations doesn't have to be daunting. If you want to raise smart, successful children, who are interested in a wide variety of topics and can carry on an intelligent conversation then reading to them and conversing with them starting at a very early age, should be part of your daily repertoire.

Just as good nutrition feeds and nourishes the pregnant body, ideally, your instruction in verbal acuity also begins before birth. Your voice, its patterns and inflections are all heard by the unborn child. When we read aloud, the cadence of human speech and conversation is already being taught and absorbed by the fetus. Once the baby is born, continuing to read and speak aloud will focus their attention on you and the words they hear will stimulate them to enjoy receptive language and encourage them to make their own sounds in order to communicate.

When you speak to your child, avoid the tendency so many adults have of using baby talk. Speak to your child in the same tone of voice you use with older people, and don't talk down to the child. Use vocabulary that is slightly above the child's own level. In this way you keep the child's interest high and by showing them that you expect them to understand they become better at gleaning information from verbal cues.

Reading is the very best way to learn and expand vocabulary. Studies have proven that children who are avid readers are the best spellers and have more advanced vocabularies than their non-reading classmates. Writing comes easily and fluently to good readers. Speaking, another aspect of language is also less intimidating for the avid reader, as s/he has plenty of fodder for their verbalizing.

So, how do you interest your child in the wonderful world of words and language? Easy, have plenty of reading material around the house. Books of course, but magazines, newspapers and posters also provided varied opportunities for reading. Some parents label a child's toys with his/her name, or put signs on other easily identifiable things in the child's world, like "chair" or "toy box".

Children are like sponges and if they sense that reading is something good, and if you yourself enjoy it, then they too will see it as a pleasurable experience and will want to do it often. Reading, especially at bedtime is a cozy bonding experience. You are sitting close, cuddling and talking softly. Nothing is so rewarding as having an excited reader coming

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