{"id":16924,"date":"2019-06-21T02:09:56","date_gmt":"2019-06-21T02:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=16924"},"modified":"2019-06-22T05:49:36","modified_gmt":"2019-06-22T05:49:36","slug":"7-ways-to-build-your-childs-vocabulary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/7-ways-to-build-your-childs-vocabulary\/","title":{"rendered":"7 ways to build your child’s vocabulary"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Dickinson<\/a>, Vanderbilt University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

If you want your child to have a rich and fulfilling life, one of the best things you can do is help build your child\u2019s vocabulary. Research shows strong language ability is associated with a number of positive things<\/a>, including happiness, friendships, connections with family, academic success and a satisfying career.<\/p>\n

Building your child\u2019s language ability is not something you should wait to do until they\u2019re old enough to go to school. Vocabulary development is extremely rapid. Between birth and second grade, children, on average, learn about 5,200 root words<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The ability to quickly interpret words at 18 months can determine the size of a child\u2019s vocabulary<\/a> later in childhood.<\/p>\n

By grades three and four, vocabulary also is closely related to children\u2019s ability to understand what they read<\/a>. This is partly because a child\u2019s vocabulary is a strong indicator of a child\u2019s knowledge of the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As one who researches the best ways to develop children\u2019s literacy<\/a>, here are seven things that I believe parents and educators can do to help build children\u2019s language and vocabulary skills.<\/p>\n

1. Talk about objects and events that interest the child<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Seize upon children\u2019s interest in the things they see to teach them new words.<\/span>
\nBy Suraphong Surachanchai from www.shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Talk about something that has the child\u2019s attention. A mother may notice her 8-month-old baby staring at a large cat and say, \u201cOh look at the nice kitty. She has such pretty eyes and soft fur.\u201d Such interactions may also occur when a child points to something and starts trying to talk about it, indicating excited interest. These exchanges are prime opportunities for adults to name, describe and explain things. Occasions when parents and children talk about things they are both attending to are powerful instructional moments. Words are paired with objects, events and emotions. The importance of these exchanges is shown by the fact that the amount of pointing by children at 18 months is related to language development<\/a> at 42 months.<\/p>\n

2. Have many conversations with children<\/strong><\/p>\n

The amount of language children hear during conversations with adults in the first 18 to 24 months of life matters. Language areas of the child\u2019s brain are rapidly developing<\/a>. The ability to translate sounds into meaningful words is rapidly improving. Linking sounds to meanings quickly enables one to continue to make sense from the words they are hearing. The speed with which children assign meaning to words is strongly related <\/a> to the amount of language they have heard as part of adult-child conversations.<\/p>\n

3. Engage in sustained interactions<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Engaged conversations make a difference.<\/span>
\npavla from wwws.shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By the time children are 2, it is not only the quantity but also the quality of the conversations they hear that matters. At this point to really foster your child\u2019s language growth, don\u2019t be in a hurry \u2013 talk with your child about particular objects or events for a decent amount of time. It\u2019s not necessarily a certain amount of time that matters. But there should be at least eight to 10 back-and-forth exchanges between the parent and the child. When children are verbal, these back-and-forth exchanges that take place over many turns are especially valuable<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Indeed, preschool children who have longer-lasting conversations show faster brain development<\/a> and more efficient processing of information<\/a> than those who have fewer and shorter conversations.<\/p>\n

4. Read and discuss books<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Reading is one of the most powerful ways to build your child\u2019s vocabulary.<\/span>
\nYakobchuk Viacheslav from www.shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the most powerful<\/a> of all shared activities is book reading. Books can be shared and enjoyed from the first year of life. They provide endless opportunities to name objects, animals and action. These experiences can be repeated over and over. The activity also gives parents a time to bond with their child<\/a> while talking about favorite pictures, events and stories.<\/p>\n

5. Use varied words while expanding world knowledge<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Trips to aquariums and museums create opportunities to learn new words.<\/span>
\nPurino from www.shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Children acquire knowledge rapidly<\/a> as they learn words that refer to more complex concepts. As time goes on, these words will be used during conversations about new ideas and experiences. For example, during a trip to an aquarium a child might see fascinating creatures as their parent names the animal, talks about parts of its body \u2013 its fins and tail, for instance \u2013 and how it moves. Or, during a trip to the grocery store, one can name objects, discuss their attributes, talk about where they come from and much more.<\/p>\n

6. Talk about past events<\/strong><\/p>\n

Through language we are able to travel through time to past and future events. As parents talk with children about experiences from the past, they tend to use novel words and children, in turn, are encouraged to use them. For example, a parent may say, \u201cDo you remember when we went to the aquarium? The child responds: “Yes, we saw that big big fish with wings.\u201d To which the parent replies: \u201cYes that was an enormous stingray.\u201d Regular conversations about the past foster vocabulary learning.<\/p>\n

7. Engage in pretend play<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Lessons abound in imaginary worlds.<\/span>
\nNOTE OMG from www.shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Language enables children to construct and live in imaginary worlds<\/a>. The talk that occurs as they enact their roles in these imaginary worlds leads them to expand their vocabulary.<\/p>\n

For example, two children are playing with action figures that represent doctors. One child holds a doctor figure and the other is playing with one that is lying on the ground. The doctor says, \u201cBe quiet I need to use my stethoscope.\u201d The \u201cinjured\u201d figure says, \u201cOK. Is that the thing you use to hear my heart?\u201d Here we see one child informally teaching a sophisticated word. The second child is learning what a stethoscope is and, as they play, will gain some understanding of how it is used.<\/p>\n

These evidence-based methods are just a few ways that parents can help build their children\u2019s vocabulary and knowledge of the world.<\/p>\n

[ Deep knowledge, daily.<\/em> Sign up for The Conversation\u2019s newsletter<\/a>. ]\"The<\/p>\n

David Dickinson<\/a>, Professor of Teaching & Learning, Vanderbilt University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Dickinson, Vanderbilt University If you want your child to have a rich and fulfilling life, one of the best things you can do is help build your child\u2019s vocabulary. Research shows strong language ability is associated with a number of positive things, including happiness, friendships, connections with family, academic success and a satisfying career. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":16921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[292],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16924"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16924"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16931,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16924\/revisions\/16931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}