Teaching Your Children Language Arts Skills At Home

Teaching Children Language Skills At Home

One of the expectations of parenting is ensuring your kids stay ahead of their education. When a child is learning to read and write, there are several avenues to incorporate elementary language arts into an average day. You can become an informal but effective language mentor for your child by using a variety of techniques to help them grow in their language proficiency. In essence, it just takes a bit of intentionality.

Practice Spelling Everywhere.

When your child learns new words, take advantage of each opportunity to teach proper spelling and phonemic awareness. For instance, if you are with your child while shopping, look at the stores' names and spell them out loud, sounding the words out as you go along. Do this repeatedly and in a way that makes it feel like a game. Children get excited about the same things we are excited about, so add some enthusiasm to the game, and the joy will spread. If you discover that your kid has misspelled a word, don't make them feel bad about it. Coach them through spelling it correctly. You may also casually bring it up later in a seemingly unrelated situation where you see the word, allowing you to read and spell it out loud.

Read Together.

One of the most important things you can do to help your child with their English skills is to read to them aloud. You can help them develop a love of learning from the very start when you make it a priority to read together as a family. Establish reading on a regular schedule, so they know when to expect it. Books with complex language or big words, including classic texts, have a place even for young children. Empower your child to ask questions about any vocabulary they don't know and give them a usable description of each new word. Offer examples to help them capture the meaning of the word. These practices will significantly improve their language skills over time.

Use an Advanced Vocabulary.

Even using big, more complicated words in your daily conversation can improve your child's skills. Kids understand more than we frequently give them credit. When you're using more descriptive and sophisticated words in your everyday conversation, your kids will most naturally develop an enriched vocabulary. Consider having days or time frames where certain words are "banned." This could include any simple or overused words to encourage your children to find a more exciting word to use instead. Words such as "good," "like," "yes," and others have much more exciting synonyms that can spice up the conversation. The challenge of needing to find a new word is a great way to encourage a more expansive vocabulary.

Give them the Right Tools.

Set up your home as the kind of place where your children can find the answers to their questions. In an accessible location, keep a dictionary or a thesaurus. If you are comfortable with your child and internet use, you can teach them how to navigate an internet search engine—and in our modern-day and age, your kids can use smart devices to spell words if they only know how to pronounce them. Encourage your children to use these resources by setting the example.

Helping your child learn how to navigate language doesn't need to be a difficult challenge. With dedicated time and effort, your child can significantly improve their abilities in this subject. Use spare moments, everyday experiences, and your own modeling to help your child become successful.