Top Tips For Helping Your Child Develop Their Vocabulary

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Children hear and absorb so many different words as they’re growing up, and those words help them make sense of the world around them and how they relate to it. Having a wide vocabulary allows them to express their feelings, get their needs met and interact appropriately with others. It will also enhance their learning at school. You can support your child to develop their vocabulary range in many ways, as outlined by this pre-prep school in London. 

Encourage conversation

Talk to your child as much as possible and from an early age, and encourage them to respond to you so that conversation becomes a frequent habit in your household. Immersing them in language from the beginning and having regular discussions will increase your child’s vocabulary by exposing them to lots of different words and phrases. It’s best to start conversations on topics your child is interested in as they’ll be more likely to absorb the information. 

Read widely

The more books your child reads and the more varied their reading material is, the more new words they’ll learn. They might also develop a love of reading which could last into adulthood. If they’re not yet able to understand certain books read aloud to them so they still absorb new words. Don’t just read stories; reading non-fiction books will extend their vocabulary range further, particularly if they get to read about a topic they find interesting. Encourage your child to read as much as possible, and get into the habit of reading something (even if it’s something small like a leaflet) every day. 

Play word games

Make up games that encourage your child to think of alternative words for things; for example, you could ask them to find adjectives to describe animals or people. You could also make a game of learning a new word each day, or stick pieces of paper with new words written on them onto their bedroom wall for them to look at regularly. Play a game of I Spy or Scrabble – anything which gives your child the opportunity to think of words and bring new ones into their vocabulary. 

Creative writing

Encourage your child to write their own stories or write about topics that interest them. Through the process of creative writing they’ll remember words they didn’t even know they knew as they try to think of ways to describe characters or relay a plot. Being able to write for pleasure, away from restrictive writing at school, will help them enjoy using words to express themselves or explain something to others. 

Use a thesaurus 

When your child is completing written homework, prompt them to use a thesaurus to find synonyms; this will add some variety to their writing and prevent them overusing certain words. Encourage them to keep and frequently add to a word bank that they can draw on when they’re struggling to think of what to write. 

Go to the library

Whether your child loves reading or is more reluctant, visiting the library and attempting to read lots of different types of books will expand their vocabulary and get them more comfortable with being around books and words. Libraries often run fun events and activities for children centred around reading, so encouraging your child to participate in these will also help them learn new words and use them appropriately. 

Socializing

Interacting with and conversing with different kinds of people, both other children and adults, will expose your child to a variety of words and turns of phrase. When you’re at the supermarket, encourage them to chat to the checkout operators, and when you’re queuing at the bank get them involved in a conversion with someone else in the queue. These small interactions will help build up your child’s vocabulary range, as will organising regular playdates with their peers.