106 Joseph Sparling, Craig T. Ramey, and Sharon L. Ramey
age, children whose mothers speak to them the most have vocabular-
ies that are eight times greater than those whose mothers speak to
them the least.
This strong relationship between the amount of a parent’s lan-
guage stimulation, as well as a parent’s active teaching, and a child’s
language and cognitive development has been documented in hun-
dreds of studies. But the most compelling findings are those that
demonstrate the significant benefits of providing enriched learning
opportunities to children who do notreceive these on a regular basis
in their homes.
When given the right types and amounts of language and cognitive
experiences, particularly within a warm and responsive social context,
childrenfrom all walks of lifegain in their intellectual and social-
emotional competence.➣See “Experience-based Brain Development: Scientific Underpinnings
of the Importance of Early Child Development in a Global World,”
by J. Fraser Mustard in this publication.Vocabulary size (words)12 14Level of mothers’
speech to their infantsHighMediumLow16 18 20 22 24 268006004002000Age (months)Figure 1. Effects of Mothers’ Level of Speech on Their Children’s Vocabulary SizeSource:Huttenlocher and others 1991.