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HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR CHILD’S VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR

As parents, we should all try to do our part in enabling our child to perform better at school. A huge part of that is improving their communication skills. A good vocabulary and grasp of grammar is essential to doing well on almost every subject. But because children tend to get bored easily and often have difficulty with learning, you will want to encourage them and make learning more enjoyable by taking a part in it yourself. Here’s how you can turn simple parent-child times into fun educational sessions:

1. CONVERSE FREQUENTLY

In children’s early development phase, they pick up language through the words you use. Imitating you is always going to be a key learning source for them as they grow up. That’s why you need to make sure you spend ample time talking to them as they grow up. Let them speak as much as they want to (practice is essential). Not only will this make you aware of their thoughts and their changing feelings as they get older, but it will also give them a chance to improve their vocabulary and grammar as they interact with you. Make a conscious effort to touch on different topics to expose them to a varied collection of words and also correct them if they make mistakes. You could have your talks over common household chores, meal times and when you’re out for a family evening.

2. READ TO THEM EVERY NIGHT

One of our favorite memories from our childhoods is our parents telling us stories. You could share your own anecdotes but make sure they are interesting to your child (you don’t want to bore them with overindulgent tales from your youth!). A better alternative is to read from children books. Make it a habit to read to your child every night before they fall asleep. Not only will this help you in bonding with them but also improve their language and comprehension skills. Want a suggestion on which books to start with? The children classics are always a safe bet but the popular Harry Potter series is also a favorite with kids and has a sufficiently high level of vocabulary and sophisticated sentence structure to be beneficial in an educational way.

3. PLAY WORD GAMES

Whether its tongue twisters or rhymes or interesting play on words, you should always try to incorporate fun word games and exercises when working on your child’s vocabulary. A simple game you can play is ‘Synonyms’- where your child has to respond with a similar or related word in reply to a word you say. You could also play ‘Antonyms’ which is a bit more challenging. Another interesting game that tests your child’s knowledge of words, sentence structure and grammar is ‘Put it together’. For that, you will need to write every word in a random sentence on a separate piece of paper. After mixing them all up, get your child to put the sentence back together as fast as they can. The exercise improves language skills as well as makes the mind more agile.