One of the most powerful ways to develop your child's literacy skills is also the easiest: talk to your kids! When you talk with them, you can help them expand their vocabulary. At age four, kids can begin to understand and answer more complex questions ("why"), use new spatial words to describe what they see (next to, above) and describe the process they used to do something (how they solved a puzzle). At this age, they are learning the give-and-take of conversations — taking turns and building on someone else's ideas.