Improving Vocabulary Skills

As a speech-language pathologist working with toddlers and children, I’m constantly looking at vocabulary skills.  All people, whether a child or an adult, use vocabulary to understand and talk during everyday tasks.   For example, a mother might ask her child to get the milk out of the refrigerator.  The child has to understand the words “get”, “milk”, and “refrigerator” in order to grab the correct items.  The same goes for a child telling a parent what book he/she wants to buy from the store.

What is vocabulary?

Vocabulary is knowledge of word meanings, which is used to understand and talk.  People use vocabulary when talking, reading, and writing.  There is vocabulary for every environment, whether on the football field or in the classroom. 

3 Ways to Increase Vocabulary

1.       During Everyday Activities

The parent could teach the child about foods or objects used to cook.  For example, as you are grabbing vegetables from the refrigerator, you would say “The vegetables I need are onions, peppers, and broccoli.”  You would say the name of the items first, then show the child each item.  Have the child hold each vegetable or smell it while you prepare the meal.  You can also mention the size, color, and shape of the foods.

2.       Reading

When reading books, the child does not have to read independently.  He can learn vocabulary just by listening to you.  When you are reading books, point to different things in the picture.  You can use picture books or early reader books to introduce new words.

3.        School Work

For school age children, they are constantly bombarded with new vocabulary terms daily.  For example, some of my clients are learning how to complete word problems.  They know how to add and subtract, but they don’t understand how to recognize that they should do it in a word problem.  When working with my clients, I will use every day language (“How much do you have all together?”) when completing addition without a word problem present.  Then, I will immediately say “You need to add them,”, as I draw the addition symbol.  Once clients make that connection, I introduce word problems.  I help the client find certain words that state what type of math should be completed (e.g. “How much is left?”). 

Hopefully, you find these tips useful.  Try to incorporate some of the tips in your daily interaction with your child.   

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash