Did you know vocabulary builds skills, such as, reading and listening comprehension, writing, spelling and pronunciation?
It is the foundation to communicating and interacting with our world. The more vocabulary words children learn, as they grow, the better they will comprehend, improving their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.
We collected a few fun ideas to learn and play with new words in your home:
Find unique ways to incorporate new words into conversations with your child. Vocabulary is not meant to be taught in isolation. It should be taught in a natural conversational setting while working with your child. Focus on growing specific words each month. Ask your kids to use the words too. Explain their meanings as you use them, as part of your natural conversation.
Here are some examples:
“She shared her crayons at school today, that was very kind.”
“Sam, lets predict what you think is going to happen to these ingredients when we mix them together. My guess is….. What is your guess or prediction? “
“Look at the ice we made, it is now a solid piece. Before it was a liquid, remember.”
Fun Tip: Spell out words with letter cookies or magnetic letters.
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Other games you can play with the words to help your child further understand and build vocabulary are:
- Identify synonyms and antonyms: this can be especially fun for 2nd and 3rd graders that are building their language skills rapidly as their reading levels increase.
- Providing examples and non-examples: exaggerate the non-examples making them funny. This is a good way to add some silliness to learning. Have fun playing with the words.
- Relating words to your everyday experiences: at a restaurant, playground or visiting family, find ways to point out different objects and experiences using the vocabulary words.
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I like to write to write our focus words on post-it notes or on bathroom mirrors with dry erase markers (the kids get a kick out of this). Every few weeks I change our kitchen chalkboard and play word games, when family and friends visit they add to our word-play too.
Use the kitchen to help describe words too. When we studied the word kindness we incorporated sweet and salty into our lesson too. We made these chocolate spoons to describe sweet with salty peanuts. Passing them out to friends was a kind gesture. (this lesson is available for FREE right here)
Each of our monthly lessons, offers a unique group of vocabulary words your child will be exposed to at school in the corresponding subject areas. Using them at home will increase their level of understanding and comprehension in the classroom. The goal is to use the words throughout the month, not just in our activities. Try a few of our tips and you will see your child’s vocabulary expand each month.
In the meantime we created, for you, two FREE word building lessons. Check them out! You will get a fun recipe and activities to build word skills in your home and explore their world together.
