How to expand vocabulary??

[JohnYeo]

KimMills:

Thank you everyone for your replies. Now I must become a dedicated mother to my kids and make them read good stories. At this age children learn anything and everything they see and hear.

No worries...just enjoy the process...sometimes kids being kids will want their own version of the stories...so just go with the flow...it's the time spent with our children that counts...

[KimMills]

I met a kid in my neighborhood a few years back. Her mother used to tell him all sorts of interesting stories during hos lunch, dinner and everytime he used to eat or drink anything. Then a time came when the child would not eat or even drink water until his mother read out new and interesting stories. I saw this for a few months but then moved on to another city. Don’t know what happened after that. But this also makes me come to the conclusion that reading out stories all the time has its repercussions as well.

[sharonkhoo]

KimMills:

I met a kid in my neighborhood a few years back. Her mother used to tell him all sorts of interesting stories during hos lunch, dinner and everytime he used to eat or drink anything. Then a time came when the child would not eat or even drink water until his mother read out new and interesting stories. I saw this for a few months but then moved on to another city. Don't know what happened after that. But this also makes me come to the conclusion that reading out stories all the time has its repercussions as well.

There is balance to be struck between habits and routines, and getting stuck in a rut. Something may be good, but if the child becomes too inflexible as in your illustration, then it's bad. But it shouldn't be a reason not to do that thing ever. Some kids, especially those with social or learning difficulties, tend to get stuck in a rut more easily, so it's important for parents to vary routines enough to teach such kids some flexibility. I have one such child, and I learned the hard way!

[nightlone]

just read to him…

i used to read anything and everything to my baby: magazines, newspapers, ads, menus, whatever i was reading at the time… they listen and will recognize the sounds. don’t worry!

[JohnYeo]

Hi, I found this post interesting...and i think it's related to this thread.


Titlte \"Helping Children Learn a New Language: 10 Minutes at a Time\"

http://www.multilingualliving.com/2012/03/25/helping-children-learn-a-new-language-10-minutes-at-a-time/

[KimMills]

Hey John, thank you for sharing the link with all of us on board. It was informative.


Yes, I agree with reading out stories only under limits and drawing the line when it becomes a habit for the kid.

[JohnYeo]

KimMills:

Hey John, thank you for sharing the link with all of us on board. It was informative.


Yes, I agree with reading out stories only under limits and drawing the line when it becomes a habit for the kid.

You are welcome KimMills... anytime

[lchunleo]

JohnYeo:

KimMills:

Hey John, thank you for sharing the link with all of us on board. It was informative.


Yes, I agree with reading out stories only under limits and drawing the line when it becomes a habit for the kid.

You are welcome KimMills... anytime

Thanks John for your interesting link. Like you, i would try to spend time to read to my child which 3yo..but he still unable to read by himself as he has limited vocabulary, trying to teach him on sight words so that he can recognize the letters himself.

[sharonkhoo]

lchunleo:

Thanks John for your interesting link. Like you, i would try to spend time to read to my child which 3yo..but he still unable to read by himself as he has limited vocabulary, trying to teach him on sight words so that he can recognize the letters himself.

Reading to your child does not require him to read for himself. Kids' comprehension far outstrips their ability to read in the early years, probably at least until 8-10 yo. Don't bother teaching him to read now as most kids only learn to read around 5yo. You will hear about some kids who read earlier, but why stress yourself and your child unnecessarily? If he picks some up, well and good, if not, there's plenty of time later. The aim now should be to expand your child's overall language and vocab by lots of listening to stories, rhymes, speaking etc.

My younger girl refused to learn to read until 5.5yo (her older sister learned to read without being taught at 4yo), but had a good understanding of language and words, so I let her be. I read to her daily, building up to longer chapter books which she understood and enjoyed. When I finally started to teach her to read, she went from basic phonics to short chapter books in 6 mths, and has always done very well academically, much better than her early-reading sister, so her late start in reading didn't affect her at all.

[glass]

My 3.5-year-old child learnt phonics through zoophonics at GUG. At first he seemed to disinterested during lessons, but I realised he was actually absorbing everything. Zoophonics is good as the child learns the letters by remembering the animals and the sounds. He will not mix up ‘d’ and ‘b’, as these are two very different animals that make different sounds. I lent my set of cards to someone who was tutoring a 12-year-old dyslexic child, and she found it very useful.


Now he can read a lot of words and books on his own. Occasionally, there are some weird pronunciation, but I realised that he was using phonics to sound words he did not know, and he could be easily corrected. For example, he was telling me there was a colour called ‘Kai-An’. When I asked him how to spell, it turned out that it was ‘cyan’.

I also taught him to use the dictionary app on iPad, so he could learn how words are pronounced on his own.

His N1 teacher demonstrated a very good way to expand his vocabulary. They were having water play, where they got to play with water. Something like this … She just described to them how she was pouring the cool refreshing water on their hands from the blue watering can. The water was coming out from the sprout. The water was flowing from a higher level to a lower level, onto Boy A’s palm, and onto Girl A’s right arm. Scoop up some water into the little red pail with colourful flowers.

Basically, she was using a lot of adjectives and vivid descriptions, so that the children could pick up more words and phrases, and also speaking in complete sentences. I was very impressed by that, and so I try to do that whenever we are doing something. Do pick up books that help you expand your own vocabulary first. Do not think that some words are too difficult for your child.

My FIL put up posters of the solar system, animals and other things on the wall (self-made), and just read to him. Go beyond just cats and dogs. What type of dog? Is it a schnauzer or a cocker spaniel? There are plenty of sticker books with various names.

There are also youtube videos that teach them similar things (up to you based on your comfort level with regard to technology). Google actually helps them with spelling as they offer words. Do remember to put maximum safe for children setting (I learnt this the hard way).

When you read books to the child, use your storytelling voice. Change how different characters sound. My only problem was my kid told me the father bear in Goldilocks was too scary for him. (hehe) If you think your English is not good enough, then get audio tapes. I had learnt English on my own from listening to ladybird tapes long time ago.

Apart from reading the text provided, look at the pictures, and describe them to your child. They will pick up new words from this method too. Allow your child to ask questions.

Ok, the next method, up to you. Personally I don’t like my son to watch too much cartoons, but since he is with his grandparents most of the time, they let him search and watch cartoons on iPad. He learns simple story structure from the shows. He will tell me about the cartoons he had watched, and would repeat the lines said by the characters.

Actually I’m trying to do that for Mandarin as well, but my descriptive language in Mandarin is not very good, but I still press on.

Hope you can get some ideas.