The results of an amazing study are only now getting the attention they deserve, and the technological tools researchers need to prove once and for all that there’s a simple trick to raising a child’s vocabulary skills, reading ability, and even intelligence: conversation. At first glance, it might seem to be too simple – after all, everyone talks to their children, don’t they? But as the study shows, it’s important to talk to children frequently, and it’s important that those talks aren’t just a series of “do this!” or “stop that!” orders. Instead, children get the most out of conversations where they’re exposed to new words and prompted to use those words in their answers.

One of the most striking statistics from the study states that “by age 3, a [child on welfare] would have heard 30 million fewer words in his home environment than a child from a professional family.” 30 million words – that’s a lot of vocabulary opportunity that’s missing for that child. And since vocabulary skill is directly connected to reading ability, that means a child in this situation will probably also have a harder time reading, and they’ll be reading at a slower speed. Once bad reading habits get started, they’re hard (though not impossible) to fix.

One significant finding from the study showed that once parents and caregivers started talking more with the children, it didn’t matter what the family situation was; children at all income levels showed immediate improvement in their vocabulary and reading. The city of Providence, Rhode Island is using this information to start a city-wide initiative to help families understand the importance of conversations at home, and to practice good conversational skills. As the study points out, substituting television for one-on-one conversations doesn’t help, and in fact makes things worse. If you live in Providence, you might be able to sign up through the Nurse-Family Partnership. This organization is a good resource for any family, and there are offices in most areas of the United States.

Have you hugged your kid today – and talked to them, too?

Read more about the study here.

Cross-posted at the 7 Speed Reading blog.