By Vicky Bowman
Language development happens very rapidly in early childhood — it’s especially amazing to watch in the first two years of a child’s life (Galinksy 2010). This means that infants’ and toddlers’ home and family play a critical role in language and vocabulary growth. Children learn new words mainly by hearing them in a meaningful context (which often includes a story’s illustrations or a speaker’s gestures).
Reading to and with children, and engaging them in conversations, are great ways to build their vocabularies. However, if they are exposed to interesting words only once, or a limited number of times, they may only have a partial understanding of the word meaning (Christ & Wang 2010). Children must be exposed to new words multiple times and in different contexts to fully understand their meaning.
How can you expose your child to new words?
1. One of the best things you can do is talk with your child—talk about their day, what you are doing together (e.g., making breakfast or folding clothes), or where you are going.
2. Establish family literacy routines. Read to your child daily, and choose books with illustrations that provide clues as to what the words mean. Read books as many times as your child wants–the repetition helps with understanding and learning new words.
3. Designate a special place for reading that is comfortable and quiet.
4. Have conversations during story reading.
Ask your child questions about the story and illustrations
Help your child use the illustrations to make predictions about what will happen next
Explain the meaning of unfamiliar or interesting words
Draw connections to your family life, community, or experiences
5. Make your home a print-rich environment filled with fun ways to play with letters and words.
Have storybooks in each room.
Label items throughout your home so that your child can connect a word with its meaning. Write the word on an index card with large, clear letters.
Place magnetic letters on the refrigerator that are accessible to your child so she can play with letters and writing.
Bring take-out menus home from restaurants and help your child find foods that he likes. Encourage your child to draw a picture of the foods and then help him write the foods name on a whiteboard or build the word with plastic letters.
Ask your child to help you write grocery lists or create a menu for the week.
Have conversations with your child about pictures that you find in magazines, books, or online.
Write the letters of the alphabet on index cards, and then tape them to a wall. Have your child help you find pictures with the beginning sounds of the letters, and tape the pictures underneath the letters. To get started, just make one index card with the first letter of your child’s name.
Let your child play with food boxes—point out the words and explain what the food is. Talk about their favorite food, and then help them write the word or build the word with plastic letters.
Label photos of people in your home with the person’s name.
Take your child on a “word hunt.”
6. Visit the library.
7. Sing songs and teach your child nursery rhymes.
8. Make art projects that connect with the stories you read.
Building family literacy practices shows your child that he is valued. Talking with and reading to your child daily are vital to her vocabulary development. Reading children’s books about a wide variety of topics–especially things that fascinate your child–will help set good reading habits and foster a love of reading, contributing to later school success.
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帮助孩子学习新单词的 8 个创意方法
作者：维姬・鲍曼
在幼儿时期，语言发展极为迅速 —— 尤其是在孩子生命的头两年，语言发展的过程令人惊叹（加林斯基，2010）。这意味着婴幼儿所处的家庭环境在其语言和词汇量增长方面起着关键作用。孩子们主要通过在有意义的情境中听到单词来学习新单词（这种情境通常包括故事中的插图或说话者的手势）。
给孩子读书，以及和孩子交谈，都是扩充他们词汇量的好方法。然而，如果他们只是偶尔接触有趣的单词，或者接触次数有限，他们可能只能部分理解单词的意思（克里斯特和王，2010）。孩子们必须在不同的情境中多次接触新单词，才能完全理解其含义。
怎样让孩子接触新单词呢？
- 你能做的最好的事情之一就是和孩子交谈 —— 聊聊他们的一天，一起做的事情（比如做早餐或叠衣服），或者要去的地方。
- 建立家庭读写习惯。每天给孩子读书，选择配有插图的书籍，这些插图能为理解单词的含义提供线索。按照孩子的意愿多次阅读书籍 —— 重复阅读有助于孩子理解和学习新单词。
- 指定一个舒适安静的阅读场所。
- 在讲故事时与孩子展开对话。
- 就故事和插图向孩子提问。
- 帮助孩子利用插图预测接下来会发生什么。
- 解释不熟悉或有趣单词的含义。
- 将故事与家庭生活、社区或经历联系起来。
- 让家成为一个充满丰富印刷品的环境，用有趣的方式让孩子与字母和单词互动。
- 在每个房间都放些故事书。
- 给家里的物品贴上标签，这样孩子就能将单词和其含义联系起来。用大而清晰的字母在索引卡上写下单词。
- 在冰箱上放置孩子能够到的磁性字母，这样她就能玩字母和书写游戏。
- 从餐馆带回外卖菜单，帮助孩子找到他喜欢的食物。鼓励孩子画出食物的样子，然后帮助他在白板上写下食物的名称，或者用塑料字母拼出这个单词。
- 让孩子帮你写购物清单，或者制定一周的菜单。
- 和孩子讨论在杂志、书籍或网上找到的图片。
- 在索引卡上写下字母表中的字母，然后把它们贴在墙上。让孩子帮你找到以这些字母开头发音的图片，并把图片贴在字母下面。一开始，可以先制作一张写有孩子名字首字母的索引卡。
- 让孩子玩食品包装盒 —— 指出上面的单词并解释食物是什么。聊聊他们最喜欢的食物，然后帮助他们写下这个单词，或者用塑料字母拼出这个单词。
- 给家里人的照片贴上名字标签。
- 带孩子进行 “单词搜寻” 活动。
- 去图书馆。
- 唱歌并教孩子童谣。
- 制作与所读故事相关的艺术作品。
建立家庭读写习惯能让孩子感受到自己是被重视的。每天和孩子交谈并给他们读书，对孩子的词汇发展至关重要。给孩子读关于各种主题的儿童书籍 —— 尤其是他们感兴趣的内容 —— 有助于养成良好的阅读习惯，培养对阅读的热爱，这对孩子日后在学校取得成功很有帮助。
