article: For the Love of Words
For the Love of Words
Posted by Robert Needlman, M.D.
on Sun, Jul 16, 2006, 6:10 am PDT
If you could give your child anything in the world, you might want to give a love of words.
Young children who can express their feelings don't have as many temper tantrums. They also learn to control their own behavior using words. A two year old reaches toward the oven door, then stops, tells herself, "Hot, hot," and turns away. Psychologists call this "self-directed speech." It's one of the ways children learn to do what's right and avoid what's wrong.
With each new word, a child gains a broader view of the world. Early on, all four-legged creatures are dogs or maybe cats. But new words transform them into horses, cows, pigs, elephants, zebras, and gnus. Children who have a wealth of words have a wealth of ideas.
By age four, the number of words a child understands is a good predictor of how easily that child will learn to read in elementary school. It's an even better predictor of how well she'll be able to understand what she reads and convey her ideas in writing later on.
So, how do you give your child this wonderful gift? First of all, talk a lot. Talk when you're breastfeeding or preparing a bottle; talk when you're changing a diaper; talk when you're doing the dishes or walking down the street.
Second, do a lot of listening. Even before your child can speak clearly, ask questions and listen for the answer. Assume that your child has ideas, and try to figure out what they are. Researchers have found a direct connection between a child's vocabulary and the number of words he hears, and especially the number of questions he is invited to answer.
Third, read aloud every day. There are many reasons for reading aloud, but maybe the best is that books contain words; lots of new, different, interesting words. Even picture books can spark conversations that wouldn't come up in everyday life. You don't meet many gnus these days, except in books.
Here's an exciting thing that happens when you read aloud every day: You begin to hear "book words" in your child's speech. You're walking down the street, and you see a pretty flower. "Look," you say, "a pretty flower." "Actually," your child corrects, "it's beautiful."
Actually? Beautiful? That's when you know you've truly given your child a love of words.
Posted by Robert Needlman, M.D.
on Sun, Jul 16, 2006, 6:10 am PDT
If you could give your child anything in the world, you might want to give a love of words.
Young children who can express their feelings don't have as many temper tantrums. They also learn to control their own behavior using words. A two year old reaches toward the oven door, then stops, tells herself, "Hot, hot," and turns away. Psychologists call this "self-directed speech." It's one of the ways children learn to do what's right and avoid what's wrong.
With each new word, a child gains a broader view of the world. Early on, all four-legged creatures are dogs or maybe cats. But new words transform them into horses, cows, pigs, elephants, zebras, and gnus. Children who have a wealth of words have a wealth of ideas.
By age four, the number of words a child understands is a good predictor of how easily that child will learn to read in elementary school. It's an even better predictor of how well she'll be able to understand what she reads and convey her ideas in writing later on.
So, how do you give your child this wonderful gift? First of all, talk a lot. Talk when you're breastfeeding or preparing a bottle; talk when you're changing a diaper; talk when you're doing the dishes or walking down the street.
Second, do a lot of listening. Even before your child can speak clearly, ask questions and listen for the answer. Assume that your child has ideas, and try to figure out what they are. Researchers have found a direct connection between a child's vocabulary and the number of words he hears, and especially the number of questions he is invited to answer.
Third, read aloud every day. There are many reasons for reading aloud, but maybe the best is that books contain words; lots of new, different, interesting words. Even picture books can spark conversations that wouldn't come up in everyday life. You don't meet many gnus these days, except in books.
Here's an exciting thing that happens when you read aloud every day: You begin to hear "book words" in your child's speech. You're walking down the street, and you see a pretty flower. "Look," you say, "a pretty flower." "Actually," your child corrects, "it's beautiful."
Actually? Beautiful? That's when you know you've truly given your child a love of words.
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