Nice article. Another benefit is actually to develop reading skills. As you read you normally are talking the words to yourself; if you don't speak well you won't read well. For instance a book may say, "I caught the ball" but if the child is not a good speaker they will see "I catched the ball" and if reading to you, that is what they will say.

My son had a lot of difficulties reading early on and had sessions at a special ed class - the first thing they worked on, before even getting to reading/literacy, was oral communication skills.

Great article.  I especially related to:

"I am very happy with our childrens' school. I would like to homeschool (unschool) but if I can't, then being aware of what my children are doing most of the day without me, is of utmost importance."

So true!  But how do you get boys to give you much more than "Good" and "I don't know" and "I can't remember"??  My constant struggle....

I think this is also a precursor for questioning teens and being involved in their lives to keep them out of trouble.   

My boy started preschool at 2 years and 2 months old during the last half of my pregnancy with the twins. At the school, they get sent up an activity report which tells the parents how much of their lunch they ate, if they napped, and whether they participated in teh different activities of the day. So even though I knew what he did already, I ask him tons of questions during the ride back home. Of course at the time, he couldn't say much, but now at almost 4, he actually tells me what he has done at school instead of waiting for me to ask him. I ask him things like, "what did you eat for lunch" (even though I know exactly what he ate, since I packed his lunch for him), "did you play with so-and-so" - I say a random friend's name here which works out well for us. My son would tell me he didn't play with so-and-so and only paly such-and-such with so-and-so instead. 

It's something I look forward to when I he comes home from school!

 Good advice with a reminder that we need to spend quality time with our children.

Cheers Janice

Great advice

Thanx for sharing xx

Great advice

xoxo