Mastering language is an important stage in human development. When language develops, the world opens up and a person is able to communicate their needs and interact in a meaningful way. Psychologist Lev Vygotsky even believes that language is the most important tool at our disposal for learning. Our basic learning skills are taught to us through an “informal educational system composed of parents, other adults, peers, and even the media” (Sigelman, C. & Rider, E., 2009, p. 277). Then formal education takes over, teaching the language skills needed to read, write and solve problems. Both formal and informal education play an important role in development, and when either of these is compromised, language development can suffer. Infancy and early childhood are an important time in language development. Newborns are unable to say meaningful words in the first 10 to 13 months of their lives, however that doesn't mean they aren't doing anything during these months. Children use this time to listen to what is happening around them, absorbing these words and sounds for use later in their development. According to research, children are able to distinguish phonemes, or the building blocks of words. These are sounds like b, p and t. Children also demonstrate an understanding of word segmentation and that a sentence is not one long word, but a sequence of multiple words strung together. They are also sensitive to the intonation of speech. These are the variations in pitch, rate and volume used when we speak, so "before saying a word, children are... sensitive to the fact that speech falls between clauses, sentences and words rather than in the middle of these important linguistic terms ". unit" (Sigel...... middle of paper ...... to find time to interact with their children if they have to work all day to support the family. A solution to this problem could be to provide funding support for these parents so that one of them can work a part-time job This would give these parents more time to interact with their children, without devastating their finances when the children are able to access the preschool programs the care could. finish and the parent may return to work full time. Informal and formal education are important parts of a child's language development. Often, children from disadvantaged families experience gaps in their informal education, leaving them behind their privileged peers when are struggling to enter kindergarten. This is why support programs and programs to educate disadvantaged mothers and their children are so important.