Expanding a child's vocabulary
Big - large - huge - massive - gigantic! Say, what?
Did you know that having a strong and varied vocabulary has been shown to positively relate to reading comprehension, intelligence and general ability. A rich vocabulary can help make your language more powerful and effective.
At the age of 3, while in some public toilets, my daughter announced “Mum, the toilet’s engaged” and during a car ride, “I can’t see grass. It’s camouflaged in trees”. She could use these ‘big, adult’ words, because she had heard them used around her.
As a speech pathologist, my advice to parents of young children: Don’t be scared to use those ‘big’ words when you’re around your children. This is how they will learn the meaning of words and then soon use them for themselves. Vary the words you use and when you use new words, try to explain the meaning i.e., “Someone’s using the toilet. It’s engaged” or “It’s hard to see the grass and trees. They're the same colour so they’re camouflaged.”
Great ways to teach vocabulary:
Talk to your child about what’s going on around you and what you’re doing
Describe what you can see, hear and touch
Read to your child. You don’t always need to stick to the text. Talk about what you see in the pictures
Change your words. For example, if you notice your child says “big”, next time you could say “Yes, it’s big. It’s HUGE!”
Made up or nonsense words are ok too - I remember my child saying they didn’t like kisses because they were “Too smoochly.” What a fun word! I let them know that they had made up a new word to encourage them to have fun with language and expand on their knowledge of words. “Smoochly! That’s a new word! I wonder what other words we can make up?”
Have you heard these tips before?
Lauren is a speech pathologist who has over 15 years experience working with children and teenagers who present with a range of learning and communication difficulties. Lauren is passionate about helping others and loves to find simple and creative ways to make learning fun! The blog posts featured on this site are written on behalf of Remindables and are intended for educational purposes only and to provide general information and an understanding on a particular topic. By using this blog site you must be aware that the information shown is not to be used as a substitute for therapy advice and you should therefore seek the opinion of suitable professionals to assist you. The views expressed here are the author’s views alone and not those of their employer or others, unless clearly stated. 