Increasing your child’s vocabulary is more essential as they begin to speak in phrases, sentences, and eventually words. There are a number of techniques for doing so naturally with your youngster. The problem may be accompanied by language learning difficulties in some cases of autism. The most crucial point to remember is not only how many words you expose your youngster to, but also the quality of what you offer. In this blog, we’ll go over some good ideas for language development and improved communication with youngsters on the autism spectrum,kgh autism services.
Vocabulary Levels
The vocabulary is organized into three tiers.
- The first level covers the common language that your kid is likely to hear, especially in speech. This generally includes nouns and basic adjectives.
- The second level consists of more difficult or sophisticated words that are frequently seen in academic vocabularies.
- The third level includes more precise terms that are associated with specific school disciplines.
The majority of youngsters are exposed to tier one words but would profit from a parent’s additional emphasis and teaching on tier two words.In the second stage of learning a new term, you’ll need to define it, go through it in detail, and provide words that are similar to the new term and words that mean the opposite end. These phases aid in better understanding and comprehension.
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Influence of a Parent
Parents have a significant impact on their children’s language learning and vocabulary. Parental involvement is critical for the development of language in youngsters with autism who may have delayed speech. Everyday events and interactions in the home set the stage for your child’s language development. Making the most of these chances may have a significant influence on your child’s skills.
According to Rowe (2012), a child’s ability to read is linked to the size of his or her word knowledge. Rowe discovered several interesting facts in addition.
- She discovered that the number of words a parent spoke to their child at the age of 30 months had an impact on their language development at the age of three. Children aged one and two benefited greatly from many words spoken around them.
- Rowe also discovered that between the ages of two and three years, more difficult and sophisticated word usage affected the child’s vocabulary at age 42 months.
- Finally, she discovered that using stories and explanations with children aged three to four influenced their vocabulary at the age of 54 months.
Dr. Rose’s study discovered that the number of words spoken was not the only indicator of language development in children. The quality of language is especially crucial for the age group between two and three years old. If you talk to your kid in a way that is just beyond their present language level, they will be more encouraged to learn and understand more.
Aim for the SSTaRs
The Hanen Centre’s Building Emergent Literacy in Early Childhood Settings: A Guidebook is a handbook that provides instructions for implementing the shoot for the SSTaRS method into daily activities and book reading at early childhood settings.
The term “S.M.A.R.T.” stands for Stress, which is emphasized (stress the new word to focus the child’s attention), Show (show the child what the term means), Tell (tell the youngster what it means), and Recognize (acknowledge) your child’s accomplishments).Provide praise for words (in your own words) with appropriate inflections and volume. Relate the word to the child’s personal experiences and knowledge, as well as to other words and circumstances). Say it again (and read the book again)
The study’s authors advocate this approach for youngsters who can already communicate in complete sentences and possess a minimal vocabulary.
Putting the emphasis on the word
Stressing the term emphasizes it when reading. Inquire whether the youngster knows what the term means. Then, using your facial expressions, gestures, or play-acting, explain to the child what the term means. You can also change your tone of voice or how you say the word to convey its meaning. Describe the term and provide detailed information about it to the youngster. Explain what the term means and what it is not, almost as if you’re providing an example and a non-example for how the word may and cannot be used.
If you can relate the term to something your youngster understands, you’ll improve their comprehension of the new term. You may also compare it to words your child knows and other circumstances in which you might use the word. Finally, say the word once more. The more times your child hears the term, the more likely he or she is to utilize it if they comprehend its meaning.
Repeated exposure and conversations are what deepen a child’s understanding of vocabulary. The child does not have to say the word to prove that they understand it.
Take the term “strenuous,” for example.
- To begin, show a picture that depicts “arduous,” perhaps someone climbing up a steep hill or attempting to lift something extremely heavy.
- Then tell them the word’s category. “Strenuous” is a word that describes how difficult something is, for example.
- Continue by using synonyms to further describe the meaning. You might use “strenuous is another word for extremely difficult or laborious.Give context to the term’s meaning, such as “picking up something heavy is tiring, a marathon is an exhausting exercise, and climbing up a hill that is steep and tall is also difficult.”
- After that, connect the term to the child’s own experiences or background knowledge. You might inquire about things like”Can you recall a time when you did something taxing or watched someone else do it?” You might also say, “Remember when we cheered on Daddy while he ran the marathon? That was a long race that was tough for Daddy to complete.”
- Finally, you might compare and contrast word meanings. You could say, “Strenuous is synonymous with hard, difficult, and demanding. It does not imply simple or easy.”
The SSTaRS is an easy method to use new words that appear in a book or activity as a learning opportunity. This technique also helps your child develop communication and discussion skills.
Around the home
With your youngster, you may add new words on a daily basis. You might start a “word of the day” where you teach your kid a new word and its meaning.You may also say the word in a sentence, and then have your kid create their own. If your child’s skills are appropriate for them and their age, they could learn how to spell and write the term.
You could utilize post-it notes to mark things about your home for children who can read. This would allow them to encounter the terms and even improve their functional communication skills as they may request certain items by name.You can also expand the labels for your child’s reading skills as he or she improves. For example, you may add adjectives to the words such as “plastic chair” or “striped rug” once they’ve learned several words about their surroundings.
Comprehension and Reading
Children, even if they can read on their own, still enjoy hearing stories. Read books to them that they are interested in or are too hard for them to read themselves, such as fantasy novels. There are several alternatives to reading to children, including comics, tabloids, and children’s educational articles that they may like.
Asking children questions while reading and especially after finishing a book can help them develop their reading comprehension. Using “WH questions” – who, what, where, when, why, and how to get youngsters thinking about the story’s many elements. After your youngster is able to answer these questions, asking about the protagonist, main idea, and setting may be appropriate. Some youngsters may even be able to summarize the tale and repeat it back to you.Readers who read stories with new words and themes will encourage youngsters to use these same new words in retellings and query answers.
How to Raise Your Child’s Writing Ability and Expand Their Vocabulary
Children frequently must write about things that are not of interest to them at school. Encourage your youngster to free-write about anything they’d like. There’s no need to correct spelling, syntax, or punctuation errors. It’s critical to children of all ages to enjoy writing. If you and your child read a book together that they like, you might ask them to re-write the tale or add on to it with their own data.
You could also ask if the youngster would want to keep a diary, in which they might express their feelings, or anything else. Your child may read the journal entries to you or to the family to practice reading and writing.
Play as a Learning Tool
When language is taught through play, children can absorb and acquire it. Playing make-believe and games may expose youngsters to new terms, expressions, and turn-taking discussions. Playing with your child might assist them develop their capacity to socialize with their siblings and other kids. There are several word games accessible, such as scrabble and Bananagrams, that some kids may be ready for. For some children, reading the rules or creating new rules for a game may be a good idea.
When playing with a kid, responding to what they say with a comment or question might help them develop their language skills. For example, you may ask where the truck is if a youngster says, “it’s a truck.” This also promotes joint attention and turn-taking in conversation.
You can also vocalize what you’re doing in play. You might say, for example, “I’m going to the doctor in my car.” Toddlers are known to ask “why” questions frequently. If the baby is playing with one or more of these toys, you could try saying “I’m sick” or “My stomach hurts.” Nurture your child’s language development through explanations and narratives during play.
Playing a game such as charades or Pictionary may be fun for some youngsters. You might give your child his or her own list of words to perform in charades or draw in Pictionary. You might record a video or find an audio recording of the child saying the word you want to teach him/her. You’ll need someone to act out your script, so make sure you have enough video time. This might be what has been said to the kid, but it’s also a good idea to practice drawing or acting out the meaning. “I Spy” can also broaden a youngster’s vocabulary by describing where the thing is in the house or on a book’s page. Have them do it for you as well. This might assist with the learning of prepositions.“Simon Says” may be used to teach youngsters how to follow multistep directions and directional phrases such as left, right, above, below, etc. It’s also a good idea to make learning enjoyable while incorporating new words in games.
Children, particularly younger children, may learn by singing songs and creating verses to existing songs. You might sing one line than have them repeat it. Stories and songs could also be discussed or created.
Using Reinforcement to Enforce Language Development
We want children to learn and utilize language. Give your child praise for using a new term or in a different way whenever possible. Make a note of it by saying, “James, I love how you used the word slippery in your sentence! You’re correct, the soap is slippery.”
Giving praise to children who like attention is simple. Positive reinforcement, which entails providing something to the environment that motivates future behavior, is straightforward to implement for youngsters who enjoy appreciation. Giving positive reinforcement (adding it to the environment) after a youngster uses new words is an example of positive reinforcement. You may also strengthen your child by giving them what they want when they ask for something using a new term. This is a random reinforcement that you can use with your youngster to assist with language development.
How to Increase Your Child’s Vocabulary
As research has demonstrated, the language used by parents or caregivers in the family has a significant influence on a youngster’s language development. Parental interaction in early childhood has an impact on their academics, reading skills, test scores, socialization, and communication.Children with a broad vocabulary perform better and are more successful in school. Natural engagement with your youngster, encouraging reading, and engaging with him or her are all effective methods for stimulating language learning in children.