Supporting vocabulary at home
Children need language to confidently read and write, which is why widening vocabulary should be explored at every opportunity. Here are some ideas of how you can help.
- Read, read, read! Read at every possible opportunity! Even re-reading the same book is shown to have a positive impact upon the vocabulary development of a child.
- Encourage your child to ask about words that they don’t understand. Remember to also check their understanding of words when they are reading to you.
- You can develop a child’s understanding of a word in many ways. Why not act out the word, make up a song, or even clap out the syllables in the word?
- Introduce them to alternative words, for example, big, enormous, huge, gigantic.
- Put the new word into a sentence for your child. Can they put it into a different sentence afterwards?
- Have fun with words! Play games such as eye spy, scrabble, word bingo and even have a go at tongue twisters!
- Use role play to develop vocabulary and conversation skills.