ABSTRACT
Researchers from Oxford University reported finding that children who experienced stimulating learning activities in the home when they were under 5 were more likely to achieve better A-level grades than peers who had not received this support from their parents. The stimulating activities the researchers listed were things most parents could do. Before schools existed children learned from watching and listening to people older than themselves. Schools only developed as population grew and people needed as a society to transmit an ever-increasing body of knowledge to increasing numbers of children and young people. Reading to a child and later with a child helps share experiences. High achievement and curiosity are linked. Empathy - the ability to understand the feelings of others and respond to them appropriately. Children and teenagers with empathy tend to do better at school, in their social lives and later as adults in their careers. Families are at the heart of all learning.
