As a parent you have a lot more to do with how smart your child is than you may think. Helping your child be smarter begins with your conversations with your child before she begins to speak. Watch how she listens to you and listens to your voice. She is really involved with the words you are saying and with your smile and your hugs. She is learning.

This happens all the time in her growing years. Remember how excited you were when she first said Mommy or Daddy. You may have had to listen very carefully or you might have missed it but most of us are waiting to hear those precious words that mean so much to us. She saw your excitement when she said the words and she remembered. She liked you being excited.

Some of your excitement probably showed when she said her first sentence. I remember one of my children’s first sentences; it was “Buggy bit me.” She was correct. She had been bitten by a bee.

Research points out how important the words are that your child hears. They even have concluded that the more words a child hears, the smarter she will become.

So where is your little one hearing words? Hopefully, most of the words she hears are not coming from a television set because those words don’t have the same impact as words spoken to her.

Books are a place children learn words. When you read her a story or even when you go through a book and talk about the pictures in the book, she is learning. You certainly want to make sure that you read at least a book or two to her each day. Let her pick out the book. Let her use her words to tell you about the book. You eventually will start to hear her saying the words you have read to her. She is becoming smarter.

A great time to hear words is when it is time to get ready for dinner. As she gets older, she wants to help. Let her help put the silverware on the table but talk about what she is doing. Let her hear ways she can help and be sure to tell her that it is really great that she is helping. You want her to want to help and a good way to do that is to let her know how helpful she is. She wants you to be pleased with her.

When you sit down to dinner with the whole family (hopefully), talk about your day. Ask her questions and let her share her day. Never let the conversation just be between the adults and hopefully never let it be going on while the television is on. Dinner should be a special family time together and should include everyone talking together. Dinners help her become smarter with your help.

Talk to her and with her in the car. Most of us spend a significant amount of time in the car. This is a great place to talk her about it. As she gets older, see if she can tell you, to learn new words, and just to learn about the world. Get excited about what you see and tell the name of the street you are driving down or one that you should turn on. Each of these trips can help her become smarter.

Every night finish off the day with a time to talk together in bed. You don’t need to spend a long time but it should be a special time each night. Talk about what she did today that was special or that she really liked. Tell her something about your day. Let her know you love her and top off the conversation with a hug and a kiss. Even that special time at night is helping her be smarter.

Someday she will be grateful to you for all the words you brought into her life without her even knowing it.

Cynthia Martin is the founder of the First Teacher program and director of Parenting Matters Foundation. Reach Martin her at pmf@olypen.com or at 681-2250.