Extending Children’s Vocabulary with Picture Books, Stories, The Alphabet

By Ina Woolcott

Pictures & Books

Once a child has learned names for real objects, the vocabulary can be extended with pictures. Kids LOVE picture books and cards with writing, and they are excellent educational materials for children at home, from a young age.

The books being used are important, just like the toys. Children will have their favourite book/s which they will want to look at over and over again with you or alone. Read the book as often as the child likes (and you have time for!), point at all the pictures, describe what is happening. As your child gains confidence, name objects and ask your child to find them. My daughter has her favourite books, they are short little picture story books. When we first started looking at books with her, she listened and watched at the pictures being pointed out and described to her. Now, she points at the pictures and with the vocabulary she has names all the things she knows. It is so much fun, not just for her, but for all who read with her. Other times, she will now just sit quietly and listen and we will ask her to point things out, like where is the cat? What does the girl wear on her feet? What is in the bag? Etc.

Children also like being shown how to pick up a book, hold it, turn the pages carefully, and then to carry and put away the book.

In general kids will sit captivated for hours if we read to them. This gives us a chance to instil a love for literature and of reading, to teach facts, values, and the pronunciation of words, even those not used all the time. You should endeavour to provide books that show different cultures, and do not stereotype situations and people. The language of the book should show respect for the child, his intelligence and his emotions.

Be choosy, even simple vocabulary books can be over-crowded with lots of pictures crammed in, full of glaring colours. These can over-stimulate children. It is much better to have few beautiful books to be cherished and respected, than to have heaps which don’t do the developing mind of a young child justice. Have a book rack or some other easily accessible place to keep books, so the child can always find the one they desire, can look after them and tidy away themselves.

At a young age books should be grounded in reality because children wish to learn about the real world. This is the best way to prepare children for a creative imagination. Fantasy is very enjoyable to the older children, but very confusing to very young children.

The Alphabet Young children with older brothers or sisters who are learning the to read often become interested in learning about the alphabet. So that confusion is not felt at a later stage, only lower case letters are used when writing and of course, saying the letter out loud.

Think about it this - When a child learns capital letters, and the names of the letters he is not prepared to learn to read and write. Most writing and reading is done in lower case letters, "a" instead of "A," and the sounds are what we need to read, "nnnn" instead of "en," for the letter "n." Learning capitals and the names of letters, although in most schools taught first for many years, is what makes learning to read and write so hard for children.

Most importantly, remember to follow the child's interests, and to keep learning natural and fun.

Imagination or Lying?

How do you differentiate? For children under 3 there is no difference. Around age 5-7 children become interested in fairness, morals, the truth and will explore such concepts in depth. For the first 5 years, children trying to communicate should not be interrupted with questions about truth.

When a child tells a story that starts out based on reality and turns into fantasy, say something like, ’you have excellent imagination,’ or ’what a lovely story’. This warrants children’s use of vocabulary, verbal skill, imagination, and at the same time introduce concepts such as imagination and story, which will help them in their own time sort out the difference between imagination and lying.

Please also see this Related Article: Speech Development In Children