In my previous post, My Literacy History: How I have Developed and Continued to Grow my Love for the English Language, I explained how my passion and love for reading came about. I learnt how to read and write in Filipino at 3-4 years old. Since then, and as far as I could remember, I would read folks, legends, myths and even biographies of the Philippine national heroes, then I would share what I had read to adults and other children, mostly my siblings. My vocabulary in Tagalog language became richer through avidly reading. And as for the English language, when the level of my comprehension progressed, my love for reading continued to grow, as well, and as a result, reading became more pleasurable and fun, than just a mere chore or a school requirement.
However, language is not just talk (or verbal communication). Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, two of the most prominent psychologists, recognised the importance of the relationship between thought and language. To put it simply, children use words (vocabulary) as their way to understand important concepts.
Children also use language for thinking. Those who have richer vocabulary are often able to think more deeply. They have also the ability to express themselves more clearly and to learn new things more quickly. The knowledge just keeps on growing and building more knowledge, and more word power. Therefore, by the time that the children get to school, they will have two essential skills that are crucial to later reading success, and those are knowledge about their world and the language to use to communicate with others.
Going back to the question, how, then, do you help your children build a rich vocabulary day by day?
Well, keep them talking!
Let your children become engaged with the people around them. The richer the language children hear every day, the more well-developed their own language will be.
I remember as a child, when my grandmother was still living in our house, we were allowed to join in adult conversation only when directly asked to, otherwise, we must go upstairs and stay in our room. Fortunately for me and my siblings, my father encouraged us to express our ideas especially when we would have our Bible study every night. We would read a chapter from the Bible and then later on, our father would ask us what our understanding was from what we read.
In other words, listening to conversation is not enough. Children have to be active participants in conversations. You can help them learn language and vocabulary through shared reading (not just reading to them) and guided play.
Use oral storytelling.
Telling stories require active listening. When you tell a story to them, they must listen carefully to your words and the changes in the tone of your voice. By doing this, you are engaging them into your storytelling and they will be able to make predictions as you go along. After telling your story, ask them questions and what sense they can make out of what they have just listened to. You can also encourage them to re-tell the story to their siblings or to other children or even adults.
Pull words from picture books.
Do you read books to your children as part of your bedtime routine? Do you know that this routine allows you to share the warm intimacy of reading to your children? It is a special bond that your children can always look forward to throughout the day knowing that before they go to bed to sleep, their parents will have this dedicated time only for them. Before reading the story to them, go over some of the words that might not be familiar to them. After enjoying the story, go back to those words and help your children explore other words that might be related. You may read the same story book for many nights so that your children will remember the vocabulary.
Sing songs and nursery rhymes.
Songs, rhymes and poems are always a hit among young children. Do you know that songs can improve children's memory, vocabulary, and creative uses of language? It is easier for anyone to memorise a song than a short paragraph of a story, right? Children find it easy to learn and remember nursery rhymes, too. Not only that they love the lyrics of these jingles, but they also benefit when it comes to developing language and recognising the sound structure of words.
Until now, I still remember Jack and Jill which I learnt when I was in kindergarten. I still and will always remember Jack and Jill's bad tumble from up the hill. Words like crown and fetch were hardly used in everyday conversation, but this nursery rhyme, along with many others, enhanced the range and uniqueness of my growing vocabulary.
So, never underestimate the importance of language and vocabulary because these help build literacy for your children's lifelong learning.
Reference:
Neuman, S. (2006). Speak Up!. Early Childhood Today: The Magazine for Early Childhood Professionals, February 2006, Vol. 20, No. 4. Scholastic Inc.: New York, NY
(Susan Neuman, Ed.D., is an early literacy expert and a professor of early childhood studies at the University of Michigan. She also directed the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Ability.)
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This this is an extremely well-written post we could learn a lot from you over on our Discord! It would be cool if you stopped in on @ntowls writting class on thursdays and sundays 3pm eastern to give tips and advice! Thank you for being there with us!
Thank you, @dynamicgreentk. I would love to join your class, but with the time difference, it can be hard for me to be there right on time. 3 pm Eastern Time is 4:30A.M. from where I am. But I will try sometimes though.
I love this post probably because it worked for me. My son was a late starter but when i started reading different books with him, his vocabulary exploded within weeks. Im barely 2 weeks on steemit. Looking forward to reading more from you. checked that discord link but it's expired
Thank you, @udywriter for your comment. Thank you also for letting me know about the discord link. I will create a new invite to the Discord group.
Yes, the more children are exposed to books, the more their vocabulary (in whatever language) will expand and become richer. I employ these strategies in our pre-school. Our little ones just love to interact and engage during story reading, and they ask a lot of questions. They also give their own ideas and responses to their own questions. This practice develops their communication skills, as well as their cognitive and emotional skills.
@udywriter You may check the discord link again. It should work now. Let me know if you're able to join.
Very true, if a little obvious. I also think parents who have a wide vocab give their kids a head-start, as they're able to pass that on.
More impressive when a kid with a harder background gains a love of language thanks to books, a great school, teacher, etc
Yes, just like with my sister @sarahdandridge and me, our passion to learn English and our own language was because of the foundations that our father laid in us. He was my inspiration, and indeed, left a legacy for us, and that is, our education. He said that education and our faith and love for God were the only things that he could pass on to us. Despite hardship and lack of material things, too, he sent us to reasonably good schools where we had teachers that encouraged and inspired us to love reading.
Wow, my dear sister, as always, i learn a lot from you. Thank you so much for this well-written and very informative post. I look forward to seeing more from you. 🤗
Thank you, my dear sister! I thought of your son as I was typing the post... how blessed he is to have a father that guides him in his learning and developing his skills especially in his early years. Also, it wasn't too late for your eldest. Look at how far she has improved the last couple of years. Your family is truly blessed! I love you!
Thank you @evlachsblog this article inspired me to read books to my children before bedtime. I have to plan how I can handle their endless interruptions and questions as well as their excuses not to sleep hahaha. Thanks again.looking forward for more articles from you.
You're welcome, and thank you for your feedback. I'm glad that it has inspired you. I know how children would employ stalling tactics just to be able to stay up and not go to bed early. Try bedtime stories, but remember to choose stories that are based on their current interests so that they will be engaged.
I will keep that in mind.Thanks!
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Great post. I am an English teacher for kindergarten, so I like to effective way to teach them in my class. I have 2 kids and I also want them speak English well. I like language, so I always write about this topic. I hope someday you can visit my blog and give me comments :)
When reading a story to the young ones, it's always effective to read with animated voice and facial expressions. You can also do "show-and-tell" where children can bring something from home (not just toys, say, a bird's nest they found in their garden) and have them talk about why this thing is special to them, what they like about it, etc. Encourage them to share about what they did on the weekend, or their recent trip, or what food they like to eat home. When they are given opportunity to be heard, they gain their confidence in speaking and they develop their language skills.
Thank you for your comment, by the way. I visited your account and followed you and upvoted the one with the grammar notes.
I wish you all the best! Cheers!
thanks for your suggestion. I will
Thanks for your valuable post. I need to be more conscious of how I'm teaching my kids vocabulary. Please do a post on raising bilingual kids some time in the future. Thank you.
Thank you for your suggestion. I will do my best to produce an informative post with that topic in mind. I really appreciate your feedback. Cheers, mate!
Looking forward to it:)
Thank you so much for all that upvoted my post. This is my only post that was highly received and recognised by big "whales". I would like to thank you @hendrikdegrote, @meerkat, @curie, @anwenbaumeister, @kushed, @steemiteducation, @steem-id, @liberosist, @pharesim, @misterakpan, @honeychum, @dynamicgreentk, @thinknzombie and the rest of over 300 upvoters. I wish I could name you all.
I really did not quite expect this, and indeed, I was thrilled to see my post garnering a lot of votes. I hope to be able to reach your level so I can help a lot of newbies and struggling steemians, who produce quality posts and yet could not get recognition that they deserve.
Thank you for all your help and wishing you all more power and success!!! God bless you all!