Vocabulary Development

Developing Speaking and Listening Skills: Play – the great starting point!

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Developing good speaking and listening skills along with a wide vocabulary knowledge is an important part of your child’s phonological awareness development and phonics pre-skills base. So, it is not surprising that if a child has a weakness in these areas, they may struggle in learning to read and write.

The summer holidays are the perfect time to start working on supporting your child to develop the skill sets needed for learning to read.

How do we do this?

PLAY!!!

Last week we looked at the importance of different types of play. By giving your child, the opportunity to experience the different types of play you will also be supporting them to build their speaking and listening skills as well as broadening their vocabulary.

Developing these skills is not all about paper and pencil worksheet activities (though this helps later on).

For fun game ideas go to our ‘Big to small’ (https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/big-to-small.html) or games (https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/games.html)sections.

All these can be found in our Learning Through Play in the new parents’ area of the website: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/parents.html

Enjoy the summer break with your child and learn to play again.

Turn Taking Skills for Play

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This week we will look at turn taking in play a skill children need to learn to take part in meaningful interaction with others. These interactions are a vital part of children’s physical, emotional, social and intellectual growth and wellbeing.

Children need to learn the importance of waiting for their turn when playing with others, something many find hard to understand to begin with. 

Like most skills it needs to be taught and practised and is part of our phonological awareness development as it requires us to learn an associated vocabulary along with facial and other physical cue.

A child who is taught and given lots of practise at taking turns will find interacting and playing with others easier later on.

Turn taking is easy to implement into everyday activities and play and something you probably do anyway, without even thinking about it

Here are some ideas to help you to support your child:

  • Try to use the phrase “My turn”, “Your turn” or “Daddy’s turn” (name a third person) when playing or doing an activity such as sharing a book.
  • Toddlers have a short attention span so keep the turn short to start with.
  • Physical games such as rolling and kicking a ball or running and jumping activities can help to encourage turn taking and learning to wait for your turn. Again, don’t make the turns too long and to help keep your child engaged while you have your turn, talk with them about what you are doing during your turn and when they are having theirs.
  • Count Down or Up – To help young children develop an understanding that if they wait, they will get their turn, explain that you will count to 10 and then it is time to swap and someone else has a turn, count to 10 again and return the toy or wanted object to your child. It won’t take long for them to understand that they will get their turn without a fuss.
  • Turn Time – As your child gets older try using a timer/clock to help them increase the time scale between taking turns. Try not to make the gaps between turns too long to start with, as young children find the concept of time very difficult, 1 minute might as well be an hour in their eyes. Show clearly a start point and the finish point for the time scale so your child can watch or come back and check the passing of time. Don’t be tempted to ignore the timer if it is your child’s turn, make sure they are offered the toy or turn that is due to them, otherwise they will feel cheated and some of the trust is lost.
  • As children get older, playing card and board games helps to further develop their turn taking skills.

Developing and Supporting Your Child’s Reading Journey – Week 3

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Vocabulary Development for Comprehension

Vocabulary is knowing the meaning of words including names of things, feelings, concepts and ideas. The larger a child’s vocabulary (understanding what words mean not just being able to say them) the easier it is for them to understand what they are reading.

The more you talk and share words and their meaning with your child the greater their vocabulary will become.

Vocabulary building:

Through Play:

  • Introducing and playing sorting games helps your child to build a mental filing cabinet system of categories, this helps them to remember and learn the meaning of words. Start by introducing simple categories of everyday items like food or clothes as their vocabulary increases categories such as colour, size and texture become more appropriate.
  • As babies handle objects and toys describe how they feel, what they look like or the sound they make
  • When you are playing with your child add in new words (explain their meaning), descriptions or expand on words they use in play. For example, if you are playing cars with your child you may comment on the size difference or colours between the cars.
  • Remember children learn new words best when they are learned in context, that is, in a natural setting.
  • If they are trying to say a word let them finish and then say it back to them clearly and correctly. Do not make them repeat it back to you, they may choose to do so but make it their choice.

Through Drawing/Writing

  • When drawing or painting with your child, or they are sharing their pictures with you, talk about the shapes, colours types of lines (straight line or curves line), what you like best about the picture, and the objects you can see.

Through Songs and Nursery Rhymes

  • Listening of nursery rhymes and children’s song is a good way of helping your child make the distinction between the music and words (language used) in them. It is a good idea to practise this skill when there are no other noise distractions. 
  • Try playing some action songs and rhymes to help your child learn the actions for the rhyme, then let them have a go on their own. Watch them to see if they can do some of the actions at the right time in the song, to see if they are listening for the right cue words. If they are struggling, explain they have to wait for certain words and show them what to do and when to do it.
  • Nursery and silly rhymes are great ways to introduce your child to rhyming sounds and increase sound play in words.
  • Singing often slows down our pronunciation of words, helping your child to pick out unusual or rhyming sound patterns. As with reading aloud it can introduce a wider vocabulary for your child.
  • Finger rhymes and action songs encourage your child to interact with words, the sounds within them and the rhythms they create. Finger rhymes such as ‘Round and Round the Garden’, ‘Pat-a-cake’ and ‘Incy Wincey Spider’. ‘Row, Row Your Boat’ is a lovely whole-body movement song that encourages a rhythmic whole-body motion, which babies and toddler enjoy (as well as the adults).

Through Talk

  • Speak in ‘parentese’- you to talk to them using regular words (normal adult vocabulary) in a slightly higher pitched and more sing-song way; until a child is about 9 months old as they will listen to you longer and hear more words.
  • Talk about feeling and situations throughout the day.
  • When your child points at something tell them the name of the object, for example if they point at an apple, say “Apple”.
  • Explain words or give synonyms
  • Avoid replacing unfamiliar words with familiar ones (explain the meaning). Remember to try to use the new word in context regularly as repetition of the word will help your child to remember it and reinforce the meaning of the word.
  • Repeat and expand on what your child says, so if they say “Dog!” you may say “A big dog!” This also helps them to develop an understanding of sentence structure.

Through Book Sharing

What books to choose?

  • Books with words not used in everyday conversation.
  • Non-fiction books (informational, instructional, true stories) -as they use different words to fiction (story) books.
  • Any book really. The language of books in much richer and varied than that of everyday conversation.

Book Sharing Tips

  • Sharing and talking about the books you are reading helps to build word knowledge, as you point to the pictures, picking out different objects. 
  • Reading out aloud helps to introduce your child to words that they may not experience in their everyday talk. This helps to expose them to new vocabulary and the sounds to be found in those words.
  • Reading aloud poems and story books with strong rhyme elements, like those found in Dr.Seuss books, helps introduce the new words and rhyming sounds in words.
  • Try exaggerating the rhyming words to help highlight the sound patterns, making it easier for your child to tune into them.
  • Explain unfamiliar words; don’t replace them with familiar ones.
  • When a word has more than one meaning. Talk about the different meanings.
  • Add descriptive words or more information than in the book.
  • Encourage your child to talk about the pictures. Add information and ideas to what they have said.
  • Use words to describe how characters in the book might have felt at a point in the story.
  • Use words to describe ideas in the story even if they are not used in the book.
  • Remember children learn new words and their meaning through repetition, so you will need to be patient as you re-read the same story over and over again or answer the same questions over and over again.

Reading with Your Child Can Be Fun!

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The importance of reading to, and with, your child from a very early age can’t be over emphasized. The more your child is exposed to words and enjoys the reading experience the quicker they will learn to read for themselves.

Reading with your child enables you to introduce them to new words and language structures which they will not come across in their everyday interactions. You can explain these words, through reading with your child, and help them to develop an understanding of their meaning. If a child likes the sound and rhythm of these new words or language structures they will, over time, start to use them in conversations with others and during imaginative play.

Reading to, and with, your child is such an important activity, however knowing how to keep it fun and to get the most out of the experiences is not always clear. This is why we are re-running our popular six-week series on ‘Developing and Supporting Your Child’s Reading Journey’

Each week we will look at a different reading skill element, giving example games and activities you can use to support and develop your child through:

  • Play
  • Drawing/Writing
  • Book Sharing
  • Talk & Song

‘Developing and Supporting Your Child’s Reading Journey’ Series:

  • Week 1. How to develop a child’s interest in books and reading.
  • Week 2. Phonological awareness skills required for reading.
  • Week 3. Vocabulary development for comprehension.
  • Week 4. Print awareness to develop understanding of reading conventions.
  • Week 5. Narrative skills to support the understanding of different writing styles.
  • Week 6. Letter knowledge.

Indoor/Outdoor Circuits Ideas – To Support Language Development

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Well, true to form, the half term holiday weather is a mixed bag, sunny one minute then pouring with rain the next!  

So, here are a couple of ideas to help your child burn off some of that pent-up energy. Best of all you can class it as language development homework (working on instructional, directional, body awareness vocabulary and listening skills).

An indoor/outdoor circuit training course does not have to take up much space or be messy (but it might be a good idea if indoors to move ornaments a little further out of the way).

Simple activities can be fun if they are done for short periods of time and children do love a time challenge. Make each activity last anything from 30 seconds to 1 minute.

You could record how many they did in the time and see if they have improved when you try it again.

Why not try:

  • Hopping on one leg and then the other (balance & coordination)
  • Use the bottom step of the stairs for step ups (bilateral coordination)
  • Curl ups (core strength)
  • With a cushion balanced on their head can they touch their toes without dropping the cushion (balance, coordination, bilateral coordination and core strength)
  • Star Jumps (balance & coordination)

For more fun, simple activity ideas check out our games page, it is amazing how much fun you can have just hopping, jumping, skipping and dancing on the spot: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/games.html

If you are feeling really brave why not try building an obstacle course, a lot of the fun is in the designing and making.

Let go and have fun!!!

The ‘What’s That?’, What You Doing?’ and ‘Why?’ Stages

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As children interact more with the world and those around them so their language and communications skills increase and the ‘What’s That?’, ‘What You Doing?’ and ‘Why?’ stages begin. Yes! It can drive you insane at times, but it is at these stages they are cementing their knowledge and understanding, their brains are like a sponge, absorbing all sorts of information and linking them together.

It is at these stages that a child can easily misunderstand explanations and develop misconceptions as they try to find reasons and meanings for themselves. So, it can be very useful to talk through some things again later, checking their understanding and thinking. A good way of doing this is to ask them to tell someone else who was not there, perhaps Dad or an older brother/sister for instance. This way you can help them to develop a better understanding of the meaning of the word or concept.

You can also broaden their experiences, on which to draw understanding, by setting up play scenarios or other activities.

The Key to Good Phonics Skills – Part 13

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Developing #Listening & #Speaking Skills – Syllable Awareness & Counting (Word Play)

At about the age of 4 years old children start to develop an understanding that words can be split into sound parts (syllables) and that these parts give the word its rhythm.  A syllable is the largest phonological unit (one or a group of sounds) of a word and is like the rhythmic beat of the word.

They should be able to orally blend syllables together to form words and segment words into syllables (https://www.teachphonics.co.uk/phonological-awareness-stage-4.html).

A fun activity to help develop syllable understanding:

How Many Syllables?     

Children love to clap out the number of syllables in a word. It is important to say the word at a normal speed rather than really slowly as this can distort the word and make it difficult to hear the syllables. To start with a child just needs to be able to recognize them by clapping, stamping or jumping for each syllable of a word; they don’t need to be able to count them. It is thought that only about 50% of children can count out the syllables by the age of 4, so you can do the counting for them.

Spoken syllables are organised around the vowel sounds, making counting them easy; as the jaw drops when the vowel sound is spoken in the syllable. Try placing your hand under your jaw with your mouth closed before you say a word. Start with ‘cat’ you will notice the jaw drops once; this is because it is a one syllable (monosyllabic) word.

Most children will find it easier to identify syllables in compound words to start with. A compound word is formed by two words (root words) put together such as: sunset, hotdog, snowman and postman. They find it easier because the jaw tends to drop quite distinctly as we say the vowel sound in each of the root words and because we tend to say these words slowly.

The Key to Good Phonics Skills – Part 12

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Developing #Listening & #Speaking Skills – Rhyme & Alliteration (Word Play)

Young children develop their vocabulary and understanding of sound patterns within words through word play.

Rhyme awareness and the enjoyment of alliteration begins early, usually between the ages of 2 and 3 years old (Stage 3 of phonological awareness: https://www.teachphonics.co.uk/phonological-awareness-stage-3.html ). This develops in to an important tool, supporting a child in developing an understanding of how words are formed and the sound patterns within them. These are important pre-phonics skills a child needs to develop to support their future ability to succeed with phonics, reading and writing.

This Rhyme awareness is supported and developed through the singing of songs and nursery rhymes and finger chants. Alliteration (words that begin with the same sounds) such as ‘Sammy snake slithers silently’, which children love to hear in rhymes and stories, also supports their word knowledge and understanding of sounds in words.

Being able to repeat, and join in with, short phrases they have anticipated in a story or rhyme, is another important step in a child beginning to understand the use of words in stories and story structure; such as, “I’ll huff and puff and blow your house down!” in the story of The Three Little Pigs.

For more information on this, and other pre-phonics skills (Phonological Awareness) your child develops through from birth to 7 +years old, check out the Pre-phonics section of our website: https://www.teachphonics.co.uk/phonological-development.html

The Key to Good Phonics Skills – Part 11

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Developing #Listening & #Speaking Skills – Games to Encourage Talking and Language Knowledge

A few weeks ago, we explained the importance of developing your child’s word awareness skills here are some further games ideas to encourage them to use this new language.

  • Playing tapes or CDs of nursery rhymes and children’s song are good for helping your child to make the distinction between the music and words (language used) in them. It is a good idea to practise this skill when there are no other noise distractions.
  • When your child points at something tell them the name of the object, for example if they point at an apple, say “Apple”.
  • Try to use the new word in context regularly as repetition of the word will help your child to remember it and reinforce the meaning of the word.
  • Try playing some action songs and rhymes to help your child learn the actions for the rhyme, then let them have a go on their own. Watch them to see if they can do some of the actions at the right time in the song, to see if they are listening for the right cue words. If they are struggling, explain they have to wait for certain words and show them what to do and when to do it.
  • If they are trying to say a word, let them finish and then say it back to them clearly and correctly. Do not make them repeat it back to you, they may choose to do so but make it their choice.
  • Repeat and expand on what your child says, so if they say “Dog!” you may say “A big dog!” This also helps them to develop an understanding of sentence structure.
  • Finger rhymes, such as ‘Round and Round the Garden’, ‘Pat-a-cake’ and ‘Incy Wincey Spider’ and action songs encourage your child to interact with words, the sounds within them and the rhythms they create. ‘Row, Row Your Boat’ is a lovely whole body movement song that encourages a rhythmic whole-body motion, which babies and toddler enjoy (as well as the adults).
  • Sharing and talking about the books you are reading helps to build word knowledge, as you point to the pictures, picking out different objects.  Reading out aloud helps to introduce your child to words that they may not experience in their everyday talk. This helps to expose them to new vocabulary and the sounds to be found in those words.
  • Introducing and playing sorting games helps your child to build a mental filing cabinet system of categories, this helps them to remember and learn the meaning of words. Start by introducing simple categories of everyday items like food or clothes as their vocabulary increases categories such as colour, size and texture become more appropriate.

Treasure Hunts Develop both Handwriting & Language Skills

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The Easter Holidays are here, so here are some fun activities to keep children of all ages entertained whether we have rain or sunshine.

A treasure hunt is a great way to teach children directional language. Being able to understand directional and placement (prepositions) vocabulary is important for understanding everyday instructions such as ‘put your cup on the table’; ‘go along the hall and stop at the door in front of you’.

We also use this directional language to explain how to draw patterns and write letters, which is another reason why it is important for young children to be introduced to, and have a good understanding of, this kind of vocabulary.

Through treasure hunts you can introduce new directional and placement language in a fun and exciting way. There are a number of different ways to approach this:

  • You can give verbal instructions to the hidden treasure.
  • You could create a map for them to follow and ask them to talk you through the map, supporting them with new language as necessary.
  • You could use a mixture of verbal and map clues.
  • For older children get them to hide the treasure and give you instructions, or draw a map.
  • If you have more than one treasure and they are of different sizes make the larger ones more difficult to find.

The important thing is the language shared. Words and phrases to use are: left, right, straight on, forward, backwards, about turn, turn around, up, down, higher, lower, stop, next to, in front, beside, underneath, on top of, behind, on the left of, on the right of, outside, and inside.

Treasure hunts are a great whole family activity and you are never too young or too old to join in!