Talk, talk, talk to your baby, say experts

The advice is simple: Talk to your children as much as possible. It's a recommendation many parents might take for granted, but one that Boston educators are trying to spread to low-income families to give their youngsters a better shot at school.

Literacy coaches have begun fanning out among housing developments in the city, urging parents of infants and toddlers to embrace the unnatural role of a sportscaster. They should narrate a play-by-play of their actions, the coaches say, while bathing and dressing their little ones, riding the bus with them, preparing meals, and running errands—even if the babies respond with nothing more than a blink, smile, or coo.

The goal is to close the gap in achievement between low-income students and their middle-class peers, who generally are exposed to a much greater number of words at an early age. The more words young children hear, research has shown, the easier it will be for them to read and write as they grow. All that talk in the early years will bolster reading comprehension by the time the children reach the third grade, according to academic research. Read more in The Boston Globe online.