How can parents help their children to build their vocabulary? According to educator Vicky Bowman, ED.S, “children learn new words mainly by hearing them in a meaningful context (which often includes a story’s illustrations or a speaker’s gestures).”
Rather than just rote memorization of words, here are 7 innovative ideas you can consider implementing:
Read more with and to your children – You may say that this is not very innovative but how you read is very important. Are you bored or in a rush? Take your time. Make your children feel that they are important and that this time with you and a book is important. Change the tone and emphasis of your words. For example: if the character is sad, read in a sad tone; and if the character is happy, read in a happy tone.
Talk with your children about what they have read - Open up a discussion about the book or story. As you read page by page, point out what the pictures are about. Talk about the design and colors. What did they enjoy? This all forces them to think and come up with words to talk and express themselves.
Ask your children questions about what they have read and about any new words they may have encountered – You can ask questions during the reading or at the end or both. But, when it comes to words that your children may not understand, be sure to stop and ask them right away and make sure that they truly understand the meaning. Keep track of the new words and review with them at a later date.
Read a variety of books – Again, your children will learn about more different subjects and the words associated with these subjects.
Write out labels with the names of objects in your home and attach them to the object – This way, your children visually read the label and see the object. Then, they associate the word with the object.
Make learning new words a part of their everyday activities – For example, if your children go grocery shopping with you, allow them to write the grocery list. When at the store, talk about the items in the store that you want to purchase. Find and discuss the items. Another example is when you are at a restaurant. Read and discuss the menu.
Play word games – One game I loved playing with my children was I Spy and we played it regularly, especially when we were in the car. Other games that help children increase their vocabulary are Scrabble and Bananagrams.
To learn more, please visit:
https://imaginationsoup.net/teaching-kids-new-vocabulary-at-home/