Children – Creating Value in Life

July 16, 2021

Increasing Your Child’s Vocabulary Power

Sometimes learning new vocabulary words can be stressful for children. Every year the child is expected to progress in the language, and one of the key ways to do that is to master new vocabulary words.

Usually, when we think of academic vocabulary, it is assumed that the words cannot be used in regular conversations. However, in the elementary years, they can be very easily be integrated into daily conversation.

Several websites give you the vocabulary words that your child should be familiar with within a particular grade. You could ask the teacher to provide you with that information too. The more the new word is used in context, the more the child is comfortable with the word, and then it can be transferred to the academic setting when being tested.
So here is a simple strategy to help your child master new words and be comfortable using them.
First, look at the list of words that your child has to know for class. Pick a few first that you can easily integrate into your conversation. Understand how the word is being used in class and the meaning. Now, start using it whenever you talk to the child.

Here is an example. The word opinion is used quite often in all the writing prompts used in class. This is more so in grades 2-5. Students are tested, where they are supposed to express their opinion on a given topic and back it up.
To help the child be comfortable with the word, start integrating it into your conversation. You could say something to this effect: “Jane, in your opinion, and when I say your opinion, I mean what do you think or feel, we should do this evening?”

What you are doing is beside using the word, you are also giving the meaning of the word in the same sentence or discussion.

Give the meaning along with the word a few times in the same sentence. Do this until your child feels comfortable and understands what the word means. After that, you could just use the word itself. Go one step further and encourage the child to use the word in their conversation. This way, when the word comes up in an academic setting, the child transfers their understanding of the word.
If one looks at the elementary curriculum, it can be seen that at least 90% of the words can be easily integrated into everyday conversation.

April 10, 2021April 10, 2021

Teaching a Child how to Read.

Last week, I ran into a friend at the coffee shop. He was studying to take an entrance exam to get into a certificated program. Curious, I looked at his book. What caught my eye were the comprehension questions and the expected response. The comprehension questions were something that students start learning as early as 2nd or 3 rd grade.

The educational system realizes that teaching comprehension skills are necessary for a child to succeed in the later years.

It is not just about how fluently you read but also how well you understand the text. The focus from kindergarten to second grade is learning how to read. From 3rd grade onwards, it is reading to understand the text. For this reason, schools teach comprehension strategies in the elementary years.

The best way to acquaint and get the child to feel comfortable with this process is to start at home during storytime.

Here are a few simple steps you can integrate to make reading more meaningful. The idea is to have a natural flow of conversation about the book.

Predicting:

Look at the title and the picture on the cover page. Ask the child to make a prediction. A typical question could be, “From the title and the picture, what do you think the story could be about?”

During the reading, ask the child what they think will happen next and why.

Making Connections:

Here you and the child would continuously try to find similarities between the story and their own experience. It could also involve making a connection between two books. When a child can connect the text to something they can relate to, it makes the reading even more meaningful and understandable. For example, “Remember how you felt when you lost your favorite toy?”

Asking Questions: These have to do with the who, what, why, where, and how questions. Again the key is to be as natural as possible while reading. Keep it light, and make it fun.

Think Aloud: This involves voicing your thought process while you are reading. For example, “I wonder why…”

Making Inferences: Try to understand what the character might be feeling at a given point. Also, try to figure out what might be going on, even though the story might not say so.

End of the book: Talk about the part you liked or did not like in the book. Always give a reason for the opinion.

There are quite a few comprehension strategies that you can easily integrate during reading time. Your child will enjoy the quality discussion, and it takes reading to another level. Understanding and comprehending come naturally to adults. However, with children, they have to be taught how to comprehend the text. These simple comprehension strategies during story time will not only enhance your bonding time with your child but also set the stage for an active reader.

This article is also taken from my other blogging site: parentsguideforelementarystudents.com.

February 23, 2021

One Reason a Child Could Find Learning Difficult.

Is homework time a frustrating ordeal? Does your child not get a concept even after you teach it several times? Chances are that you are not taking into consideration the child’s learning style.

Gone are the days when listening to a teacher was the way to learn. Now, teachers are trained to differentiate teaching according to the different learning styles. The learning style refers to the method a child uses to understand what is being taught.

Usually, we all prefer one style of learning over the others. Identifying if your child is a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner is the first step. Once you know your child’s preferred learning style, be creative and present the material suited to that learning style. When you have introduced or taught the information taking your child’s learning style into consideration, you will see an improvement in the academic setting. In fact, this could be applied to all areas of life. The visual learner would learn better with diagrams and pictures. The auditory learner learns better by listening. The kinesthetic learner would prefer the hands-on approach towards learning.

Ideally, information is given using all the modalities with more emphasis on your child’s learning process. So when teaching a subject like Math, visuals should be used to teach, and use the hands-on approach with manipulative to reinforce the learning. Knowing your child’s learning style can make homework time a much easier task. Teach according to their learning style to get the maximum results.

February 18, 2021February 18, 2021

Tips for Poor Penmanship

Are you concerned about your child’s penmanship? Do you have to keep reminding them to write carefully and legibly? Do they find it hard to write clearly and neatly? There could be several reasons why a child could be struggling with these fine motor skills. The wrong positioning of the paper, not applying enough pressure, and holding the pencil the wrong way, could be a few reasons for poor penmanship.

However, one of the most common reasons for poor penmanship is having weak hand muscles. If this is the problem, it could be considerably improved by using a few things at home. Here are some easy ways to tone the hand muscles and improve handwriting. The child will actually have fun doing these things at home. It could be in the form of play or helping you in the kitchen.

Transferring Objects: Take two bowls and fill one with lentils, beads, or anything else you have at home. Let the child transfer objects from one bowl to another. There are three stages. Do not go to the next phase until the previous one has been mastered.

Stage one would be the whole hand grasp. Let the child pick a fistful of seeds and transfer it to the other bowl.

Stage two would be to use only the five fingers to pick and transfer from one bowl to another.

Stage three would be to use only the three fingers used for holding a pen or pencil. This would involve the middle, pointer, and thumb fingers.

Another variation would be to use a spoon, tongs, or any other kitchen tool that requires precision to sort and transfer the objects from bowl to bowl. Take into consideration what would be safe for the child to handle.

Shaving Cream: Spray shaving cream on a surface and let the child make letters, words, or draw with their index and pointer fingers.

Kneading: Kneading is a good exercise for toning the hand muscles. Let your child help you in cooking, where kneading is required as making something with dough. You could also make homemade playdough with flour and water.

Other: Stringing noodles, opening jars of various sorts, drawing, cutting, using spray bottles to water plants, clothespin, and various other activities are other things a child can do to help strengthen their hand muscles.

Usually, children love helping in the house. Doing these simple things would build their fine motor skills, improve penmanship, bond, and a helper in the making. Just don’t forget to make it fun and keep it light.