Just one action from parents can help their children become smarter and more successful in life.

A study by scientists at MIT, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania in the United States has found that regularly conversing with parents is a good way to help children be happier and more successful. Scientists highly value frequent exchanges between parents and children, especially during the developmental stage of 4-6 years old. These conversations will help children develop better communication skills.

The results of an MRI evaluation of 36 children conducted by scientists showed differences in brain activity. Babies who frequently engage in back-and-forth conversations with their parents will have more activity in the Broca’s area of the brain – the area responsible for speech production and language processing, and they will perform better in tests. Parental conversations help stimulate children’s language skills and promote their brain development.

In regular conversations between parents and children, children learn more and become better at handling life situations. They also learn to share more, which helps them receive more support.

Frequent conversations with children help them to communicate better with others, have better reflexes, and behave better.

Scientists suggest that parents should practice greeting people around them and express gratitude even for small acts of help, so that children can observe and learn from this. This will teach children important lessons about life.

You don’t need to have high-level conversations with your children, just frequently interact and exchange stories about everyday life, or encourage your child to speak up and continue the conversation naturally.

Children who know how to communicate well in real life will have better relationships, even in romantic relationships.

Tips for parents who don’t know what to talk about with their children

Some babies are born to talk and ask many questions. In this case, listen to your child’s stories and respond by interacting, guiding, answering, and correcting them when necessary. On the other hand, some babies find it difficult to speak and don’t know what to say. In this situation, parents need to know how to start a conversation.

You can encourage your child to talk about how their day at school was and how they are feeling. And listen when your child speaks, be patient when they speak discontinuously. You can suggest and ask questions for your child to answer, but avoid closed-ended questions, ask open-ended questions to encourage your child to speak more.

Parents also need to learn how to listen when talking with their children. Listening is not easy, especially when your child’s speech is unclear or their stories are messy. But listening will help you identify your child’s strengths and weaknesses in order to provide support. Listening will also help your child gain confidence in speaking.

To extend the conversation, you can create scenarios and ask for your child’s opinions. Or you can both pretend to be animals and have a conversation, or reenact a scene from a story your child likes.

You can also increase your child’s vocabulary by reading books together. Initially, when your child doesn’t know how to read, you can read to them and ask them to summarize what they heard. Don’t just read to your child, ask them to retell the story, encourage them to recall to help them improve their speaking skills while expanding their vocabulary.

Conversing with your children may take up a lot of time, but it is an important part of parenting. In the journey of being a parent, it’s not just about earning money and providing food for your children, but teaching them, conversing with them, and having conversations with them are wonderful moments that enhance emotional connections. And it is through these conversations that children learn and grow, not just through academic lessons and knowledge from books.