UK: Lack of parental involvement leads to communication deficit for young children
Pupils starting primary school increasingly need to be taught to speak because they have heard little language at home beyond the “daily grunt” from their parents, according to the report . . .
Research shows that success in school is largely dependent on communication skills, but in poorer homes children hear 500 different words a day, against 1,500 in a rich household, the report says . . .
In some parts of the country up to 50% of four- and five-year-olds cannot speak in sentences when they start school, the report says.