Quick Tips to Improve your Child's Vocabulary

Many of parents are wondering, “what are the things I can do to increase my child’s vocabulary?” This is very common especially when you notice that your child has trouble expressing themselves or using their words. Some parents may also think that their child might have speech delay. Either of the two, there are still many simple ways to help your child increase his or her vocabulary words. If you are wondering how, then keep reading below:

1. Involve them in your Daily Routines

• There are a lot of things that we do on a daily basis. Be it in school or at home. All of us have our own routine that we follow. This is actually one of easiest way to build vocabulary. We should involve our kids in our daily activities. Be it sweeping the floor, washing clothes or wiping the table. All of these activities can help. You can give them a rag and they can pretend to clean, and they can copy you while you do. Imitating is actually a good skill. Have them wipe. Then you can say, “wipe! Wipe, wipe, wipe.” “Is it clean now? Wow! It looks clean.” You would notice that the words wipe and clean were repeated. Repetition of words can help them learn and use it. Whenever you are cooking, you can let them sit on a high chair, give them a bowl with spoon and toys. Make them pretend that they are also cooking. Interact with them. This will help communication flow better and it’s a way for them to learn some words.

2. Read to your child before going to sleep

• Reading a very important part of your daily activity. Read at least 5-10 minutes a day. We know how some parents are busy and very tired from work, but it will really be beneficial if you read to your kids before going to bed. You can choose a simple book and read it to them. This is not only beneficial for language development but also your bonding experience and for establishing a routine. If you read the same book over and over again, they are going to learn that vocabulary both receptively and expressively.

3. Sing! Make music part of your activities!

• We are firm believers of singing and music in general. This works very well to the kids whether in a typical set up or in a special education setting. Most the children would recognize the tune then, they will begin humming with it and you would notice, some words from the song would slip from their mouth. They would know the meaning of the words better because they are very engaged. This works better when you are using visuals with them, use big actions, story books or even a puppet.

Girls practice in the school of music. Looking at camera.

These are just simple tips that you can do with your children whenever you stay at home or go out to the malls and parks. Get them involved, model to them and let them hear, recognize and experience the new vocabulary words we are teaching them.