One-on-one time 'makes children thrive'

NEW Australian research has confirmed the value of reading and talking to young children long before they can hold a conversation.

NEW Australian research has confirmed the value of reading and speaking to young children long before they can hold a conversation.

The study of more than 4000 Australian children found that four-year-olds who were not read to at home were a year behind other children who were read to every day.

The size of a child's family was found to be another risk factor -- those four-year-olds with four or more siblings were 10 months behind only-children of the same age in terms of their language development.

Cate Taylor of the Telethon Institute of Child Health Research said the national study was the first in the world to test language comprehension at ages four, six and eight, and measure growth in terms of months.

"Kids' language comprehension is like a toolkit they have for the start of school and that continues throughout life, and as kids start to understand written language it's the words they know that are their greatest asset," Professor Taylor said.

"Kids who don't understand as well as other kids are at a significant disadvantage."

She urged parents to talk to babies and toddlers continually to help them develop strong comprehension skills.

"No words go to waste as a parent. Talking to children as if they are talking back before they are actually talking is hugely helpful," she said. "It's that one-on-one time that makes children thrive.

"In normal everyday activities, nothing special, not sitting in front of Baby Einstein, but normal routines like meal times, bath times, bed times, story time, that's when children have their best chance to learn words from their parents."

Professor Taylor said the research team had been surprised to find that children with lower language comprehension at age four had more rapid growth than other children in subsequent years.

"School is helping those kids catch up," she said.

But the opportunity to attend school did not help all the children studied. Children from low socio-economic backgrounds were not found to be at risk of low language development at four but by eight they were significantly behind.