By adopting a few simple techniques

By adopting a few simple techniques, parents who read to their children can greatly increase their children's language development．It is surprising but true．How parents talk to their children makes a big difference in the children's language development．If a parent encourages the child to actively respond to what the parent is reading, the child's language skills increase． A study was done with 30 three-y ear-old children and their parents．Half of the children participated in the experimental study; the other half acted as the control group．In the experimental group, me parents were given a two-hour [raining session in which they were taught to ask open-ended questions rather man yes-or-no questions．For example, the parent should ask, "What is the doggie doing?" rather than "Is the doggie inning away?" The parents in the experimental group were also instructed in how to help children find answers, how to suggest alternative possibilities and how to praise correct answers． At the beginning of the study, the children did not differ in measures of language development, but at the end of one month, the children in the experimental group showed 5.5 months ahead of the control group on a test of verbal expression and vocabulary．Nine months later, the children in me experimental group still showed an advance of 6 months over the children in the control group．