For more than two decades, experts have recognized the importance of early exposure to a language-rich environment. By age three, children from low-income families hear far fewer words than their more affluent peers—nearly 30 million fewer words. This disparity puts poorer children at a huge disadvantage when starting school. But now a Temple University study suggests that exposing low-income children to more language isn't enough to overcome this difference. The researchers report that the quality of communication among children, parents and other caregivers is of more importance that just the number of words.