Parents have the ability to affect how much their children learn by the type and amount of communication in the home. Parents of children who talk with them usually experience a higher level of achievement. In this way, parents can play a major role in effectively preparing their child for success in school. Children who have not been culturally exposed to topical conversation at home and gifted children may both receive an inappropriate education in the school system. Parents of gifted children are usually the first to suspect they have a gifted child. The parent's expectations of the school system for the gifted child are not often met (Olszewski-Kubilius).
In two separate articles, Roseanne L. Flores and Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, confirm the impact parents have on the education their children receive. Both articles emphasize the importance of a child's home-life on school performance. Flores discusses how the linguistic culture of the home can either prepare a child successfully for the school environment and what is expected or may be in opposition to the school culture. In the second case the child may have to learn to switch between two different types of discourse. The Olszewski-Kubilius article recognizes the significant role parents have in recognizing and nurturing a child's individual talents despite the school system.
In her article, "Ways of Talking: Patterns of Parent-Child Discourse and the Implications for Classroom Learning", Flores highlights the importance of talking within the family. She compares the styles of dialogue within two different sets of families: those with children labeled gifted who attend a school for gifted children and families with children attending regular public school. The families with gifted children tended to have more open-ended topical discussions with their children (27). These types of discussions mirror teacher and student interactions more closely than the episo...