Not surprisingly, what you do with your children at home can boost their accomplishments at school. Parents are their children's first teachers - whether they are at school or not - so never underestimate your role in a child's intellectual development. All parents would like their child to do well and be happy at school, and rightly so: success and happiness at school enhance the child's chances of having a productive, fulfilling, happy life.

Given the massive mental development that takes place before school-going age, it is important to encourage our children from a very early stage. It is simple to turn everyday activities into an opportunity to encourage a child's intelligence. With a little twist, simple daily tasks can bolster school success.

Talk, talk, talk

Make conversations with the youngest baby a part of your lives together. Here are a few guidelines for parents of pre-schoolers to encourage intelligent conversation and thought:

Talk, describe, sing and play with your child from birth. Describe what you are doing, eating, where you are, in complete sentences.

When dressing, encourage talk about items of clothing, colours and parts of the body they cover.

When having a bath, develop the body games that describe all parts of the body. Try the pointing game - point to your shoulder, neck etc - and make it fun.

Play simple question-and-answer games - name the people, the objects on the table, the furniture.

Have plenty of things around for them to touch, feel and explore. Talk about the sensations.

Read aloud to them from birth, and introduce books from the earliest age.

Let them "read" you the story from a picture book, listening closely and asking a question now and then. Show great appreciation when the story is finished.

As they get older:

Encourage them to talk about their experiences.

Ask for their opinions of events, people, clothes, ideas.

Respond to their questions at a level they can understand, yet fully with details and examples if necessary.

If ever you don't know the answer to a question, admit it and say "let's look that up together". It is a good idea to have (or to have access to) a dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, encyclopedia and computer. When children can plan and discover their own answers, they improve their language abilities as well as many other skills.

Read, read, read

Share all sorts of reading together - poetry, songs, reading aloud. Show the beauty of language and the written word.

Let them read magazines, newspapers, books, maps, labels and posters aloud.

Establish reading time in your home - before going to sleep, while awaiting dinner or whatever suits your lifestyle. In the early years they can look at the pictures.

Encourage your children to write whatever takes their fancy - a daily journal, a poem, a story or a book on themselves. Praise it.

Put on little plays, help them dress up. Let them write the script and develop the characters themselves.

Play restaurant, letting them write and choose the menu.

Let them cut out pictures from magazines - about the World Cup, the Spice Girls, pets - and make a scrapbook.

School, school, school

The more you know about school and what happens there the better for your child. You can work with the teachers and co-ordinate activities.

Attend PTA meetings. Join and help the parents' association.

Know the names of teachers, the principal, counsellors and secretary, having chats about your children's progress regularly, or a conference once or twice a year.

Know when reports are to be sent home. Read all correspondence from the school and respond as needed.

Encourage a homework plan, monitor it and help with assignments as necessary - making sure children have the time, space and a well lit, comfortable area to do it in.

Have a routine: study time, reading time, sports or exercise and fresh-air time, chore time, TV time.

Ask your child about her day. What happened at school and afterwards? Really listen to the answers, offer help, a sympathetic hug or a tender word. Share whatever the day brings.

When no homework is given, encourage her to go over the day's work to ensure it all "went in".

Be there to discuss any situation at school with which your child may be experiencing difficulties. Failure is common, and only a temporary phase used as lesson from which to learn and go forward. Praise all efforts and celebrate any improvements or successes.

The big world outside

Understanding comes from a wide variety of sources - take your child places and do lots of things together. Sometimes children can read but often have no idea what the words actually mean. If you ride to town in a bus or car talk about the route, what you see along the way, play observation games. Discuss where you are going and why. Have chats about your family and how special they are. Talk about outstanding people in your culture and others. Visit parks, zoos, concerts, museums; go to the theatre, the movies, ethnic restaurants. Go to fairs, libraries, art galleries, you name it - all these are learning opportunities, no matter whether they agree with the ideas shown or not. Say encouraging things, like "you couldn't do that last time we came - well done"; "I don't agree with your views, but I do admire the way you put your argument forward."

No matter what happens, children need to understand that you are always there to support and uphold them - even when they make mistakes. Being highly intelligent may be an asset, but having a wholesome child who is happy and knows how to enjoy and appreciate the specialness of each wonderful day is most important.