If parents are providing a good home learning environment for children with lots of different activities like sharing books and having conversations, letters, numbers and singing, with some early learning in the mix, parents can be confident they're giving their children the best start in life.

A child’s genes are the blueprint for their early development, but it’s the experiences and close interactions that children have in their early years that can really shape brain development. It will come as no surprise that the home learning environment features most strongly in the research as being the key to children’s optimal language, physical, intellectual and social development.

Sue Robb, Goodstart Early Learning General Manager of Pedagogy and Practice, discusses the importance of early communication and the need for children to experiment with sounds, babbling, making noises, learning vocabulary, and communicating from an early age.