Scott Smitheducator

When you think about learning vocabulary, what comes to mind? Word lists, dictionaries, writing meanings?

Over generations, education has turned vocabulary learning into a reading and writing skill. While vocabulary is a key reading skill, many students can increase their vocabulary through reading. Younger students gain a greater understanding of vocabulary through language development than through reading.

Vocabulary is not just a skill; it’s a gateway to comprehension. Without a strong grasp of vocabulary, understanding conversations and reading comprehension can become challenging. Understanding the importance of vocabulary in comprehension is a key step toward effective learning.

From the moment children start to talk, they are embarking on a journey of vocabulary building through language development. This process is not just about learning words but about understanding and using them in context. Children who are exposed to a rich vocabulary through language development gain the ability to comprehend and understand more within the spoken language, setting a strong foundation for their future learning.

When you are reading or having a conversation with a child, it is fine to use what you might consider an unfamiliar word with them. Just take a moment and give them a child-friendly definition. This allows them to increase their language and world knowledge of things around them. When they are older and reading, this will become a transferable skill, allowing them to build their vocabulary through reading.

When our daughter was 3, we were camping. For dinner, we roasted hot dogs on a stick over the campfire. The next day, we were driving home and went by a pond full of cattails. She yelled from the back seat, “LOOK, THEY’RE GROWING HOT DOGS!” She was applying the knowledge she had gained at the campground to what she saw along the road, and she knew because we had been discussing what was growing in the other fields — corn, potatoes, and beets — those must be hot dogs.

Take time with your kids and build their spoken vocabulary, and their minds will explode with knowledge as they get older and apply it to their lives.