Are you laying the groundwork for literacy success?

Did you know learning word meanings occurs rapidly from birth through adolescence when children hear good language models? 

In fact the average four year old child hears 30 million words from birth to age three.  BUT, children who grow up in a talkative home hear 48 million words by age 4!

When students show up to school from a "language rich" environment, reading is easer for them.  They have been exposed to many words, have background knowledge, understand academic language and have knowledge of specific word meanings.  All of this lays a strong foundation for learning how to read.

However, students who come from a "language poor" environment have a greater chance that reading will be difficult for them.  Some children will come to school already suffering from word poverty.  These kids will know fewer words, simply because the environment they grew up in was not a talkative one.  

The graph below shows how the gap in word knowledge grows when a student enters school. This study was conducted by Andrew Biemiller, professor at the University of Toronto.  As you can see students who enter school with average to advanced word knowledge acquire a vocabulary more quickly and easier than those who enter school less vocabulary adept. 

Why might coming from a talkative home matter?  Well it is proven that children with better vocabularies learn to read more easily than those with a limited vocabulary (Metsala, 1999) 

Adults can facilitate the process of word learning when they do the following things: 

1. Introduce new words

Teach your children new words. You can do this by using children's literature, or by simply telling them a word and explaining it.  During the explanation, make sure you give a kid-friendly definition.  You can also increase their understanding by giving synonyms, antonyms and showing images of the word.

For example: A parent  is reading a non-fiction book about sharks to her son.  She reads the word, "predator" in a sentence and then stops to define the word to her child.  She says, "A predator is an animal that gets food by hunting other animals.  Bears are predators.  Lions are predators. The opposite of a predator is prey." 

2. Elaborate on what a child has said

As you converse with your child, extend their thinking.  Ask them to explain their thoughts by using open ended questions.  After your child has finished verbalizing their thoughts, tell a similar story or add additional details to what they have said. 

For example: When a child talks about their day at school,  a parent could ask: I wonder why?  What might you do differently next time?  How did you..."  Check out this list of open ended questions you could ask to get your child thinking and talking from Parents Magazine. 

3. Confirm and clarify a child's attempt to use new words

If a child uses a word correctly, congratulate them.  Encourage them to compare or contrast words, or even act out or show the word they used.  If  you child uses a word incorrectly, validate their desire to use precise vocabulary and then interject with the word that should have been used.  Then invite your child to repeat the word and try to use it in the right context.

For example: You said the krill was a predator in the story, but I think you meant the krill was prey.  I am so proud of you for using precise vocabulary, but predator means an animal that hunts weaker animals and prey means animals that are vulnerable to being hunted by stronger animals.  Do you want to try using predator in a sentence?  

4. Use unusual words in conversation  

I sometimes refer to unusual words as, "ten dollar words."  These words are precise, descriptive and uncommon. Use these "ten dollar" words over and over again, until your child starts incorporating these words as apart of their everyday vocabulary. 

For example: Wow!  Your dominoes just collapsed!  Collapse means to fall over. 

Check out this video published on Reading Rockets, in which Dr. Rebecca Silverman gives great examples on what parents can do to help build vocabulary with their children