Listen Up Mom

This is self-evident; still, it's always nice when scientific research proves that Kids Learn More When Mom is Listening.

The researchers found that explaining the answer to themselves and to their moms improved the children's ability to solve similar problems later, and that explaining the answer to their moms helped them solve more difficult problems.

"We saw that this simple act of listening by mom made a difference in the quality of the child's explanations and how well they could solve more difficult problems later on," Rittle-Johnson said.

The researchers also found that children experience the benefit of explaining a solution at an earlier age than previously thought..."We found that even 4-year-olds can use explanation to help them learn and to apply what they've learned to other tasks."

You don't really understand anything until you can explain it or teach it to someone else.  That's why having a mom who listens is so important to a child's development.