Listen to the article:
Long before your child can speak, she is learning and absorbing information. Reading to your children from infancy helps them to expand their vocabulary, gain an understanding of word and sentence structure and hear how words are used. Statistics indicate that reading to children increases their IQ and helps improve their reading and writing skills. And long before your child can learn to read and write, she needs to understand word basics.
In addition to reading aloud to your child, you can help build his vocabulary in a variety of ways.
Have Conversations
Just as reading to your child offers advantages, having normal conversations aids in understanding and expanding his vocabulary too. Even if your child is too young to verbally join in the conversation, talk to them because they are listening. Give a step-by-step description of what you’re doing. For instance, “I’m cutting up vegetables for our salads tonight,” or “I’m getting dressed so I can go to work.” As your child starts to talk, listen carefully and repeat what is being said.
Bring Words to Life
Use new words when talking with your child. This can be a combination of words that your child has to learn for a vocabulary test or a word that you want to teach him. The words will stick when you bring them to life using these techniques:
- Give the description of a new word by relating it to something familiar to your child. One word that is commonly found in elementary books is “merchant.” Share the definition of the word with your child and share examples of real merchants in your hometown and discuss the various items each merchant sells.
- Draw a picture describing the word. A simple sketch of a person sitting away from the crowd might describe the word “shy.”
- Use a vocabulary word in a sentence to show your child how the word is used and what it means. Next, ask your child to make a sentence up using the same word.
- Attach an action to a word to help explain it. For example, you can bring the word “frolic” to life by imitating your child when she is happy or using a hand puppet and make it jump around happily.
- Encourage your child to use new words in daily life in as many different ways as possible.
- Have your child write a story using the new words appropriately. Be sure to read what your child writes and should any mistakes occur, help him with the correction.
- Dissect each word for your child, explaining root words, suffixes, and prefixes so he can learn to recognize the patterns. This frequently helps with the identification of word meanings. For example, the word “geology” has the root word “geo,” which means “earth.”
Play Word Games
Take time to play a game of scrabble or solve a crossword puzzle together. Put the names of various items around the house on sticky notes and attach them to the correct objects.
The more creatively you introduce new words to your child, the easier he will learn how to use them correctly and expand his own vocabulary.
Thought Starters:
- Incorporating Vocabulary into Daily Conversations: Reflect on how you can describe your daily activities to your child, even if they are too young to respond verbally. Think about ways to integrate new words and concepts into everyday conversations to enhance your child's understanding and vocabulary.
- Creative Techniques to Make New Words Memorable: Consider how you can use creative methods like drawing, acting out, or attaching actions to new words to make them more relatable and memorable for your child. Think about using familiar examples or creating simple sketches that illustrate the meaning of new vocabulary.
- Engaging in Interactive Vocabulary Games: Ponder how playing games like Scrabble or solving crossword puzzles can be both a fun and educational way to build your child’s vocabulary. Consider labeling household items with their names as an interactive learning tool.
- Encouraging Storytelling and Writing: Contemplate encouraging your child to write stories using new vocabulary words. Think about how you can support and correct them gently if they make mistakes, turning it into a learning opportunity.
- Exploring Word Roots and Patterns: Reflect on how explaining the roots, suffixes, and prefixes of words can help your child understand and identify patterns in language. Consider ways to introduce these concepts in an age-appropriate and engaging manner.
Suggested Questions To Ask Your Child:
- Can you tell me what you did at school today, using as many details as you can remember?
This question encourages the child to describe their day, allowing them to practice using various words and phrases, enhancing their vocabulary. It aligns with the article's suggestion of having conversations to aid vocabulary development.
- What do you think the word 'frolic' means? Can you show me how you might frolic?
This question invites the child to guess the meaning of a new word and then express it through action, making the learning process more interactive and memorable, as recommended in the article.
- Can you draw a picture that shows what 'shy' looks like?
Asking the child to draw a picture related to a new word encourages them to visualize and internalize its meaning, as suggested in the article. This approach helps deepen their understanding of the word.
- How about we play a game of Scrabble and try to use some new words we've learned?
This question proposes playing a vocabulary-building game, which is one of the article's recommendations for making learning new words fun and engaging.
- Can you write a story using the words 'merchant' and 'geology'?
Encouraging the child to write a story using new vocabulary words aligns with the article's suggestion of having children use new words in creative writing, which helps reinforce their understanding and usage of these words.
