Talk to children about what matters to them. They will take care of the rest. "Communicate"

Most parents know that they should read to their children, early and often. But few know that speaking to them is just as important to literacy and language success. Betty Hart, Ph.D. and Todd Risely, Ph.D. from the University of Kansas have spent the bulk of their careers studying the effect of talk on kids’ eventual academic achievement. They recorded more than 1,300 hours of interaction between parents and children across the racial and economic spectrum. What they found is startling. Sure, quality matters when it comes to verbal interaction between parent and child, but it turns out, so does quantity. Their research, published in the benchmark book, Meaningful Differences, shows a direct link between a child’s academic performance in third grade, and the amount of words spoken in their home from birth to age three.