Vocabulary is key to development in the early years!
In general, babies from 6 to 24 months benefit most from the number of words spoken to them.
This means, TALK, TALK, TALK to your baby!
Many studies suggest that the size of a child’s vocabulary in their early years is directly related to their later school achievement. It is essential to build your child’s vocabulary so they develop the language and literacy skills necessary to succeed in school.
Through everyday moments and routines, you can help expand your child’s vocabulary.
But, how do you do this?
- Read to your child!
- Read a variety of books, create your own stories, and act out and role-play characters.
- Speak parentese
- Parentese is a high-pitched, singsong voice paired with exaggerated facial expressions
- Parentese has been found to help babies pay more attention to the speaker and encourage them to process the difference between words
- Use song and rhyme
- Songs and rhymes are great! They are often repetitive, have catchy tunes, and are fun! If they are paired with actions, even better! They help to build phonemic awareness and are often well-liked by little ones!
- Some popular songs and rhymes for little ones include:
- Wheels on the Bus
- Mr. Golden Sun
- Ten in the Bed
- Row, Row, Row your Boat
- Itsy Bitsy Spider
- Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
- Talk to your child
- It seems simple, and it is! Have conversations with your baby or toddler throughout the day. It doesn’t matter if they respond back, they are hearing and processing everything you are saying.
- By doing this you are exposing them to a vast number of words and a rich vocabulary.
- Narrate your day, describe what you are doing, explain how things work, and just keep talking!
- Go on new adventures
- An easy and fun way to introduce your child to new vocabulary is to get out of your normal routine for a day!
- Take your child to a zoo or a park they haven’t been to. Take them to a new place or play with a new toy. Experience new activities and enjoy new surroundings.
- These new experiences will likely bring new vocabulary!
A few tips:
- Don’t bombard your child with words. Although quantity is important in the early stages, this doesn’t mean that you should just word vomit all day every day! Aim for balanced and purposeful conversations or dialogue with your child. Wait for your child to respond after you say something and make sure you are doing your best to engage your child in the conversation even if they are not verbal.
- Pair words with actions. This is especially important if your child is not yet talking. Use actions, gestures, or factual expressions. This will help your child understand the meaning of different words.
- Repeat, repeat, repeat! Children need repetition! You will likely need to use a word several times before your child truly understands it. Use it in different situations and times. Teach your child that a word can have different meanings or be used in different situations.
- Be patient! You may feel like you talk to your child all day and they are not saying any new words. That’s okay. Keep going! Some children like to process a little longer before they speak. Know that they hear you, they are gathering all the information you give them, and they are storing it to use when you least expect it!
School is out and you are home with your kiddos all summer!
Are you ready for a little summer vocabulary challenge?
Check out my freebie on how you can incorporate all these tips into a 100-word summer challenge.
I will show you how I picked up $11 worth of toys and brainstormed well over 100 words to introduce to my toddler this summer!
In this freebie, I break down how you can teach a variety of words (nouns, verbs, prepositions, and adjectives) with one little object! Are you up for the challenge?
