It's good to talk

The best way of helping your children to do well in school is probably the most enjoyable: the more time you spend talking with them, the more they'll grow in confidence and the more practice they'll have in speaking and listening. These are skills which are vital in all areas of the curriculum. Keeping the talk going is also a good plan when it comes to living with teenagers.

Talk-ins

Family life is usually full of endless and hurried chatter, but it's a good idea to find regular opportunities to sit down with your children just to talk. Sometimes, these sessions should be family pow-wows with everyone having a say; sometimes you should give an individual child your undivided attention. And don't worry - you'll find plenty of things to talk about.

If you make these talk-ins a regular feature of family life when your children are still young, you'll probably find it much easier to communicate with them when they reach their teenage years. If you've got teenage children who can natter for hours on the phone to their friends but can barely manage a few mumbled monosyllables when you try to make conversation with them, what should you do? Persevere. Retain your sense of humour. Remember what you were like when you were their age. And if you want some impertinent advice, see What if your children don't want to talk to you...

Speaking and listening in school

Perhaps there was a time when schools believed that silence was golden, but it's certainly not true today. Along with reading and writing, the fundamental skills of speaking and listening are given a high priority at all age levels and across the curriculum.

In school your child will be expected to:

• listen attentively to instruction and advice from teachers.
• contribute voluntarily to class discussions.
• address the whole class, if only occasionally, on a chosen topic.
• collaborate and co-operate with class mates in various forms of group work.
• answer teachers' questions fluently. This feedback is the most effective way the teacher has of checking how well a pupil understands.
• have the confidence to ask the teacher questions when the need arises.

Useful websites:

Fore more useful information and guidance on helping your child with language difficulties, go to www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebeies/grownups and www.talkingpoint.org.uk