Thoughts on Reading, Writing, and 'Rithmetic

There are some words that are easily added to a child's vocabulary: "puppy," "cookie," "nap," "no." Children have few troubles grasping the meaning behind these words because they are frequently used and the mental images for the meanings are reinforced daily. But what about words like "enormous" or "dangerous" or "ecstatic"? These words may require a more intentional approach to learning and internalizing the meaning.

Here are some tips for building your child's vocabulary:

Have conversations about words:

"The book said he 'gasped' when he saw the huge dinosaur in his back yard.  What does that make you picture?  How could he have looked? Now look at the picture in the book--Oh! He doesn't look like he's happy and excited to see the dinosaur, does he?  He looks really surprised..." 

This type of dialogue encourages children to create mental images of what the word means and explore those pictures, rather than merely providing a dictionary definition and hoping the child understands. This also encourages using context to build an image. If the the story has been discussing how surprised the kid was to see the dinosaur, then "gasped" might give them some idea of being surprised. This skill is one that should be cultivated.

Give kid-friendly definitions:

For example, your kid says, "Mom, what does "massive" mean?"  

A kid-friendly response would be, "It means really, really big."

A not-so-kid-friendly response might be,"Monumental, gargantuan, enormous - stuff like that."

Provide an image:

Once the lightbulb has clicked on and the child has a grasp of the meaning, be sure to tie it to a mental image: The great blue whale is "massive." Examples like that make a picture for the child to draw on.

Generate an image:

The next step is for the child to generate his own example."What have you seen that seemed "massive" to you?" Discuss options that the child can easily draw from memory. Something in real life will give a more concrete image. "Mr. Jenkins' guard dog is massive," or "the museum building is massive."

 Use the word in conversation:

Just like that word "no" takes more than one repetition before it is fully learned, new vocabulary won't necessarily stick after just one exposure to it. Use the words several times over the following days:

"I really gasped when I saw the massive numbers on the electric bill."

Use these moments to discuss the mental images and meanings again. The more often a child can strengthen his/her mental image of a meaning, the more likely the word will be internalized and become a part of his/her active vocabulary.

If your child is having difficulty retaining the vocabulary you've worked to develop, it could be that he or she is not forming images for words appropriately.  Check out our page on Visual/Verbal Integration for more information.

Rachel Phelps
Clinician