A strong vocabulary for kids is an essential condition for them to do well in their studies. It is pretty clear that before a child can learn to read, he needs to have an understanding of the essential words along with the corresponding meanings. Parents should, therefore, actively give priority to their children to learn new words. And to attain this objective, parents can rely on highly effective tutoring by Dicker Reading Method. Our reading tutoring program has already helped over 10,000 children to improve their vocabulary substantially.
By putting kids on simple but clever vocabulary improvement programs, parents have to assist their kids in increasing their vocabulary daily. The advantages of the possession of useful vocabulary in children span beyond helping in studies. A rich vocabulary improves reading skills and assists in communication and understanding.
The more the number of words a child knows, the more he can comprehend and make sense of what he reads or listens. A recent survey of teachers in 800 secondary schools has shown that four out of ten pupils leaving primary school are poor in vocabulary, and that is affecting their learning.
Be assured that building a good vocabulary in your child seems not to be as tough as it appears to be. Follow the following practical steps and see the difference:
Converse Using New Words
Children have a natural tendency to learn what they hear. Usually, a child acquires much of his vocabulary through conversations, so the more he hears you speak, the more new words he learns. To improve vocabulary for kids, expose them to as many terms as possible. A child generally needs to hear new words four to twelve times before storing permanently in his memory. After introducing a new word to your child, use it again and again in various contexts during conversations with him. Keep a mental note on the number of times of the usage of the word—the more, the better.
Read Aloud
Reading aloud in front of your children can be a powerful vocabulary improvement program. Cultivating the habit of regularly reading with children can be a useful reading tutoring program to help in filling in new words in their memories. When parents read aloud in front of their children, it gives them the tendency to figure out a broader range of possible word choices. Apart from helping in building a strong vocabulary, reading aloud also entails additional benefits for children, such as enhancing cognitive development and listening skills. Moreover, you can try out customized techniques developed by the Dicker Reading Method to enable your child to learn five new words with ease and their meanings in just one minute!
Play Games Involving Words
Playing word games with your children can immensely help them in catching new words with ease. Children tend to learn best while having fun, and when different learning styles are incorporated. For example, repeated exposure to different terms and explaining the context to the words could be strong vocabulary improvement programs for kids. Audio and video stimulation should be the major parts of the games to enable the child to master new words/concepts.
Give a Free Hand in Writing
Figure out the things your child finds attractive. And encourage him to write on those topics just for pleasure. Encourage him to write as long as he can, giving him a free hand. It could be an effective vocabulary improvement program as he will come across many new words about which he is likely to seek its meaning, and in the process, he will learn new words, strengthening his vocabulary.
One Word per Day
There is a simple trick to enhance your child’s vocabulary by 365 words every year—introducing a new word every day. For finding out new words for each day, you could use a word-a-day calendar or an app that suggests new words or a dictionary; and you could also engage your entire family in the activity. After introducing the word, make sure you explain the meaning to ensure your child knows the purpose as well so that he can use it while writing or speaking.
Teach Thesaurus Usage
Teaching children how to use a thesaurus is a practical method of enabling them to learn new words frequently. And since the usage of a glossary also entails the benefit of improving the quality of written work, so teach your child not only to use it but also have it alongside while they are writing. To encourage better use of the thesaurus, you could also read through their writing and highlight the words they overused so that they can look at similar words and that will enable them to learn new words and even improve reading skills.
Encourage Story Telling
Ask your child to create a story to tell you. To put your child at ease, you could provide him with the setting of the story (say, a lonely wanderer) and the list of problems the characters face (say, resting place, food, etc.) and subsequently hear what your child says out of imagination. Make sure that you ask questions during your child’s storytelling. For example, if your child says, “The wanderer faced difficulty in finding a place to stay during the night,” you could ask, “What is a hotel?” In this way, you will be able to enable your child to learn new words effectively. Dicker Reading Method implements proven methods to shift the “I can’t read” condition in your child to the “I can read” status, that too in a short time.
Two-Way Conversations
Children tend to absorb whatever they hear. Then why not leverage that? Speak to your kids using a variety of words so that they pick up the new words to build up their vocabulary. The more new words they hear, the stronger their vocabulary will become. But do not make speaking a one-way affair; give your kids the liberty to speak, enabling them to practice using the new words they learned.
Put Name Labels on Household Items
Putting labels on household items is a potent way of improving vocabulary for kids as that introduces a wide variety of words to your children. In this way, they will tend to remember the names associated with the items quickly. You can label all the household items your child interacts with frequently. To ensure the words fit into your child’s brain, point out to the article and pronounce the name and ask your child to do the same. Dicker Reading Method has customized vocabulary improvement program for children with disabilities too.
Be Careful in Correcting Mistakes
Mispronouncing or misusing new words is natural for children. So be careful not to act in a rough manner, such as rebuking, if your child makes such mistakes. Instead, praise your child for attempting, and correct his error by teaching him the proper way to pronounce as well as use the word. The more fun the child undergoes in the process, the more interest will arise in your child to learn new words.
Do Not Use Dictionary at All
If you are under the belief that familiarizing your child with a dictionary will help him in building a strong vocabulary, then drop the idea. Dictionaries won’t help your child in learning new words as there would be some definitions of words that would include words that might be unfamiliar to your child. In such a case, the interest of your child to learn new words will go away, and thus all your subsequent efforts to tempt him to learn new words are likely to go in vain. Dicker Reading Method ensures that your child will make tremendous progress on passing through our specially designed programs.
Facilitate New Words Discovery
Enable your child to discover new words by taking him to new places and exposing him to different environments. For example, you can take your child to the local zoo and ask him to describe the various animals present there. If your child gets stuck in describing, help him with the relevant word. Likewise, you can take your child along with you to places, such as the bank, the grocery store, or the post office, and check out his discovery of new words. At Dicker Reading Method, your child will gain tremendous confidence to learn new words.
Clarify Word Meanings
Parents should help their kids in understanding the more than one meaning associated with many English words. Teach your child about the difference in the meaning of the almost similar-sounding words, such as “days” and “daze”. To enable your child to understand the different uses of the same word, ask him to explain the meaning of the words. For example, if he uses the word “bat”, ask what he meant—the dark creature that flies at night or the wooden stick used in baseball.
Say, Show, Write the Word
Your child should be able to read, speak, and write a new word to get himself familiar with it. So, whenever your child asks you to pronounce a new word, ask him to repeat the word aloud after you utter it. Similarly, if your child tells you that he came across an unfamiliar word during the conversation, spell out the word and ask him to write it down on a piece of paper to enable him to see the word.
Conclusion
Words empower children to make sense of the world around them. Children with strong vocabulary can think more deeply, express themselves better, and learn new things quickly. They are also likely to excel in their academics, unlike the children with poor vocabulary who encounter significant problems in learning. As there is a natural urge in kids to learn from the grown-ups, parents can play a vital role in strengthening vocabulary in their children. Exposure to reading tutoring programs — such as those offered by Dicker Reading Method, listening to new words and writing could contribute significantly towards vocabulary building in your children. At Dicker Reading Method, we empower any student — regardless of whether in the elementary, middle, or high school — with strong vocabulary through our proven reading tutoring programs, designed scientifically for your child.
Discover also our innovative live online reading tutoring now!
[contact-form-7 id=”9428″ title=”Newsletter with PDF”]
