VOCABULARY BUILDING: TEACH NEW WORDS AT HOME Our use of vocabulary affects everything we do—from the way we talk to our ability to understand what we read. Although children are taught new words in school, vocabulary is something that is built with exposure and repetition. Discussion about any topic is an effective way to improve your child’s vocabulary because children can pick up new words in conversations with parents. “This starts with parents talking to and with their children in the preschool years,” says Shane Templeton, the foundation professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Nevada, Reno. “It’s more than just reading—talk about what’s going on in the book. Ask questions like, ‘Have you ever felt like that?’ Get them to make connection with their own lives.” To make learning vocabulary fun, play games with your child. From simple to elaborate, there are many games your child can play to strengthen his or her vocabulary. The two homemade games suggested below by The National PTA are easy to construct. Make a die by cutting off the tops of two pint-size milk cartons. With the bottom side up, push one carton inside the other. On each side of the cube, glue new words for your child to learn. Roll the die, and help your child use the new word in a sentence. To create an educational checkers game, write words on small pieces of paper and tape them to the black squares on a checkerboard. Each time your child lands on a black square, have them say the word. For more game suggestions, visit www.pta.org. Another great activity that can be done in your home is to create a word wall. Many classrooms have them, and they are easy to make. Put a large piece of paper or corkboard up on a wall, write words on squares of paper and attach them using tape or push pins. Words can be grouped in categories on the wall such as words starting with the same letter, or synonyms and antonyms. See who can come up with the most words that fit the category. You can purchase manufactured word walls, including scaled-down, portable ones at www.school-tools.com. The Internet has lots of activities to help your child learn new words, so utilize interactive websites. On Merriam Webster’s Word Central, www.wordcentral.com, your child can look up definitions of words and even build his or her own dictionary. Take them to Vocabulary University at www.vocabulary.com, where they can play games, work on themed puzzles and crosswords, all aimed at teaching vocabulary. For worksheets and activities you can print out, visit http://pbskids.org/lions/printables. Encourage your children to talk about what they learn in school. In 2000, the National Assessment of Educational Progress for fourth graders determined that “students who discussed their studies at home on a daily, weekly or monthly basis had higher average reading scores than students who never discussed their studies at home.” By Kara K. Murphy