Your newborn can pick up the rhythm, tones and inflections of your voice, says Kenneth Wible, MD, of Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Missouri. Research shows that the more words a baby is exposed to, the better prepared he is to eventually start reading on his own.

Studies have also shown that children who were read to as newborns have a larger  vocabulary, as well as more advanced mathematical skills, than other kids their age. There’s also a direct link between how many words a baby hears each day and her language skills. One study found that babies whose parents spoke to them a lot scored higher on standard tests when they reached age 3 than children whose parents weren’t as verbal.