Frequent reading

As Dr. Seuss once wrote, "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go". There is no doubting books' positive effects on brain development.

Beginning at a very young age, reading a good book gives a vast universe of information. Reading books for children, in particular, increases vocabulary exposure, which benefits children's reading test scores as well as their performance on general intelligence tests. In fact, when reading is included into parent-child interactions, the developmental benefits are much more obvious. In a recent study, researchers found that children whose parents read aloud to them had greater language and cognitive development skills.