Matt Schmitt is an engineer, usually not much of a talker. But when he and his 3-year-old son, Parker, build with blocks, Schmitt describes the shapes, colors, the difference between tall and short and what happens if they stack the blocks too high. Research shows the more words children hear, the larger their vocabularies and the better prepared they are to read. Schmitt learned that during a six-week program for dads, “3Ts-Let’s Talk Dads,” created at the University of Chicago with support from the Steve Nash Foundation. Dads typically don’t talk in depth about parenting like moms do, said Meghan Storms, senior program manager at Southwest Human Development, which runs the program locally. Dads play a critical role in their children’s lives.