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LLMom
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I'm not sure this is the place to put this but I am wondering about this. I have read here and various other places that if children read a lot and are read to they will develop a good vocabulary. So far, that is not happening here with our family. My oldest reads voraciously and has an ok vocabulary. My son, who is just now reading a bunch on his own does not have a very big vocabulary. I read a bunch as a child and still do but I don't have a large vocabulary either. So I am wondering if there is more than just reading to it. Do any of you do anything? I find that stopping in the middle of a reading to look something up really loses the meaning of a story and if we wait until the end, they run off or we forget.
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lapazfarm
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Hmmm. Interesting question. My kids and I have really large working vocabs and I always attributed it to reading alot because we don't do any sort of vocab program at all. But maybe that isn't it. I do know that it is a family trait as my extended family also has large vocabs. But again, I always attributed it to reading, as the whole family also reads alot.
Good question! Sorry I have no answers!
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MacBeth
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A good vocabulary is nearly entirely dependant on the vocabulary you use in your home. Children who hear words tend to use the same words. If you never use the word "dog" but instead use "canine" the kids will learn the word "canine" and use it. Children who hear words in French will use those words. Yes, reading helps (reading aloud with a parent who understands and explains vocabulary is even better) but it's the words you use that matter. In casual conversation, we use a huge vocabulary here, and it shows.
I do not know if others have this problem, but...It's a bit hard socially for the kids, as their peers sometimes do not have a clue what the kids are saying. Gosh, I recall a friend of mine in 4th grade running away from me yelling, "Stop using big words." 
If you are looking for some great vocabulary books just for fun (yeah, my kids read the dictionary for fun  ), or for yourself  , try Vocabulary Cartoons. I bought it for the big kids, but it's now Paul's favorite take-along book.
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Nov 08 2006 at 7:20am | IP Logged
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That makes alot of sense, MacBeth. We are "big-word-users" here, too. LOL!
We are very into words here and a running joke is that one time my mom and I were discussing the reasons behind this family trait. She explained that "Language is very important in our family. I think its because we value preciseness."
My reply: Don't you mean "precision"?
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marihalojen
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LLMom wrote:
| Do any of you do anything? I find that stopping in the middle of a reading to look something up really loses the meaning of a story and if we wait until the end, they run off or we forget. |
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A neat trick for remembering those hard words but not interrupting the flow of the story is a vocab bookmark. Look up the word at the end of the chapter.
There are lots of neat ways expand vocab, something like Bittersweet Words might be a fun way to play with words, anything involving food gets a thumbs up around here!
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Erin
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Macbeth is correct alot of the richenss of your children's vocabulary is the language they are exposed to via the home. Like Theresa's mother mine also valued language and likewise I do too. My dc use language often beyond many of their peers.
When your 4yr old says "well actually..." you know that history is repeating itself. Dd13 uses words even I don't use  part of hers is that she reads extensively. When you say your dc read alot what are they reading? You can read alot but it isn't necessarily stretching if it is twasddle. (I hope you don;t mind me saying this)If your dc are exposed to rich and vibrant language constantly I would expect it to rub off, Beatix Potter's words for example just beg to roll of your tongue. After reading literature with rich words use them yourself when talking to the dc. Make it a game, the dc will love it. 
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LLMom
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thanks everyone.
Erin, she reads very good literature. Right now she is reading Jane Austin and books on Scotland. SHe is a huge Tolkein and Lewis fan. So, twaddle isn't the problem.
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hylabrook1
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Erin -
I was thinking just yesterday about the vocabulary choices in Beatrix Potter: the impertinent Squirrel Nutkin and Peter Rabbit being implored to exert himself. My oldest dd was especially taken with those books and used, with understanding, some very "age-inappropriate" words as a result -- the language just delighted her.
Peace,
Nancy
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TracyQ
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We LOVE vocabulary cartoons! The kids all just love it! It's fun, and they have learned a lot of words!
Another neat way that has helped as well are studying Latin and Greek roots. We find that helps them in figuring out some of the vocabulary they come across.
We've been surprised at what they don't know though as our oldest has been preparing for his PSAT/SAT tests.  Frustrating!
Tracy
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MacBeth
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| Posted: Nov 14 2006 at 12:48pm | IP Logged
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LLMom wrote:
thanks everyone.
Erin, she reads very good literature. Right now she is reading Jane Austin and books on Scotland. SHe is a huge Tolkein and Lewis fan. So, twaddle isn't the problem.
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Here's an idea...why don't you call for a "Talk Like Tolkien Day" or a "Jane Jargon Day" or something, to encourage the whole family to use some of those great vocabulary words.
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MacBeth in NY
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ALmom
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Some of our children expanded their vocabulary by playing scrabble. Since we have such a wide range of ages playing together, we always allowed dictionary use in creating the words. Everyone worked hard to find the most unusual words, or the longest words and in the meantime we were reading sections of the dictionary. The game usually deviated from play to discussing some of the new words found in the dictionary during our hunt for the winning word.
Our youngest comes up with the darndest things. He told us he was invincible. He also told my cousin that "desperate girls do desperate things" as she tried to hold his hand. That was a truely embarrassing moment for me wondering where in the world he came up with that. After much sleuthing we discovered that he had watched part of Famous Men and Their Flying Machines - my dh ff a few scenes. However the line in this was "Desperate Men do desperate things" as one balloonist tries to outwit another with some devious tricks. Yikes - this child imitates everything. Thankfully we did not overreact as he had no idea of the connotations of what he had said - but he certainly understood the vocabulary.
I think that people also find grammar easier if correct grammar is used in spoken language in the home. There are plenty of things that just plain sound wrong with or without knowledge of the rules. Perhaps that is why English teachers were always so upset by the corruption of the language on billboards, in commercials and on various TV programs.
We rarely do a lot of vocabulary study at home until high school. We also do a lot of reading outloud even to our older children. We have fun playing around with language orally. It always seemed that our children did well on any vocabulary type tests that were part of standardized testing and I assume they use advanced language in speaking. We do find it helps to do some formal vocabulary study for the multiple levels of meanings of words.
Janet
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MichelleW
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This is more work, but this year I have been pre-reading looking for vocab words. We discuss them, and, if they seem to be having difficulty with them, then we illustrate them. After that, the word "belongs" to us and weuse it often in conversation.
Michelle
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CathinCoffeland
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This topic is fascinating to me. I wonder how inheirent vocab is? Is it somethng that can be improved? Everyone in my family uses a large vocab (we stink at spelling though)
I had always assumed it was either because we read more than we watched televison Or because it just ran in the family like brown eyes.
We also played a lot of "nerdy" games while waiting in traffic at resteraunts etc.
Things like taking turns coming up with words that ended with "ly" "ingly" "ster" etc.
As we got older it would get narrowed to words with specific numbers of syllables.
"cool" we were not! but we had fun!
Maggie- who's favorite all time book is the thesurus
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: vocabulary
