Articles

Young children whose parents read them five books a day enter kindergarten having heard about 1.4 million more words than kids who were never read to, a new study found. This 'million word gap' could be one key in explaining differences in vocabulary and reading development.

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Language development is essential for reading and communication skills later in life. Parents are the main influencers of language in early childhood. This article shares five ways for parents to boost their child’s language development every day.

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Learning one's native language may seem effortless. But new research suggests that language acquisition between birth and 18 is a remarkable feat of cognition, rather than something humans are just hardwired to do.

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The first few years of a child's life are crucial for learning language, and though scientists know the "when," the "how" is still up for debate. In a new study, researchers report a factor that is important for language: the predictability of the learning environment.

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Young children who are regularly engaged in conversation by adults may have stronger connections between two developing brain regions critical for language, according to a study of healthy young children.

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Researchers who examined child speech interactions over the course of a year found that vulnerable children benefit from conversations with their peers and their teachers.

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My sister is a Kindergarten teacher and says that my husband and I are not talking to our two-month-old baby as much as we are supposed to. I must admit it feels kind of stupid to talk to our baby. After all, he really cannot understand what we are saying! Am I right?

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Researchers found that a child's ability to self-regulate is a critical element in childhood language and literacy development, and that the earlier they can hone these skills, the faster language and literacy skills develop leading to better skills in the long run.

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Research shows that the more skills children bring with them to kindergarten, the more likely they will succeed in those same areas in school. Now it's time to add language to that mix of skills. Not only does a child's use of vocabulary and grammar predict future proficiency with the spoken and written word, but it also affects performance in other subject areas.

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Welcome to the wonderful world of pretend play, where a cardboard tube is a telescope and the space under the dining room table is a cave. Pretend play, also called make-believe play and imaginary play, has been regarded as crucial to children’s healthy development. The benefits, apparently, are many.

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Are two languages at a time too much for the mind? Caregivers and teachers should know that infants growing up bilingual have the learning capacities to make sense of the complexities of two languages just by listening...

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A month before they are born, fetuses carried by American mothers-to-be can distinguish between someone speaking to them in English and Japanese. Using non-invasive sensing technology for the first time for this purpose, a group of researchers has shown this in-utero language discrimination.

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