Learning new words is an everyday aspect of the school journey, but some parents may be unsure of how to support their child when expanding their vocabularies, particularly when they seem a little lost and overwhelmed by certain new words. This week, Lauren from North Shore Speech Therapy shows how a simple activity using new vocabulary words can begin to foster a deeper knowledge of word meaning.
Research shows that children with more robust vocabularies perform better academically. When learning new words, itโs important to be confident that your child really understands the word, not just how to say it. In depth word learning involves a number of aspects:
* Knowing how to say the word
* Knowing the wordโs meaning
* How the word can be changed to make other words (e.g. โbreakโ can become โunbreakableโ)
* Understanding synonyms (words that mean the same thing) and antonyms (words that mean the opposite) for the word
* How to apply that word to different things in their environment (e.g. a โbreakโ can mean relaxation from work, a broken bone, a smashed plate)
* At a higher level, how to read and write the word
Using synonyms (words that have the same meaning) and antonyms (words that have the opposite meaning) is one simple and fabulous way to encourage word learning. The words can be as simple or as complex as they need to be depending on your childโs age, language skills and the subject matter you might be targeting!
For more useful tips and tricks like this, follow North Shore Speech Therapyโs Facebook page or visit their website.
