Ways Families Can Promote Vocabulary
Families can contribute a great deal to the vocabulary development of children. Conversations with family members and friends as well as radio and television broadcasts can be the basis for table conversations.
Younger Children:
§ Use words so that the youngest of children learn to associate the word with its meaning and characteristics. When giving a bath, use words like water and wet.
§ Use as specific words as possible. General words such as clothes will not build a child’s vocabulary as much as words like blue socks, new shoes, and bib overalls.
§ Talk out loud, sometimes called self-talk, as you perform an activity to explain what you are doing. I am making the bed. I am helping you pick up the toys.
§ Talk to your child, sometimes called parallel talk. You are drinking your milk now. You are walking beside me to go to the supermarket.
§ Provide a safe play area with several toys. A child in an unsafe area may only learn the word No.
§ Think of less common words to use to describe things. While reading a book, use synonyms to talk about what is in the pictures and story. After reading use antonyms to talk about what was not in the pictures and what didn’t happen in the story.
§ Play games that include rhythm and music as both emphasis language. A song like “This Old Man; he played one” uses numbers, repetition, and rhyme.
§ Choose books that have a strong sense of rhythm and repetition which will provide opportunities to repeat the familiar refrain.
Older Children:
§ Provide opportunities for children to listen to how other people use words. Children need to hear the good speech of adults.
§ Talk with children about daily tasks like household projects and car maintenance, using the specific words each project requires.
§ Order a magazine subscription as a gift for a child. Pick a magazine that features a special interest of the child.
§ Use the information from the magazine as a subject for family discussions.
§ Make up and play word games.
§ Purchase commercial boards games such as Scattegories, Pictionary, and Scrabble for gifts.
§ Purchase children’s dictionaries for various age groups.
§ Provide a daily reading time. Parent Reading Guide - Reading by Nine – 2003