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The fundamental units of communication are words. They allow us to communicate our ideas, feelings, and thoughts, and they are crucial in forming how we perceive the world. Did you know that when children begin understanding words in the first year of life, their vocabulary rapidly increases? To an extent, at age one, children recognize about 50 words; by age three, they realize about 1,000 words; by age five, this number jumps up to as many as 10,000 words. Of course, the more they are exposed to language, the better their vocabulary skill improves.

If you are keen to know what some of the vocabulary words you should expose children to, here is a handy list:

Vocabulary Words for Preschoolers

At the preschool level, you can introduce children to the below-mentioned words. How can you do that? Have a conversation and include these words in that. For instance, if you ask a preschooler what he is holding in his hand and he says “car,” pointing to his toy car, you will have to respond, “Yes, that is a red car. It rides fast.” Therefore, you can notice that just by adding a sentence, you will immediately add two new words to your child’s list of vocab which will intentionally and progressively improve the child’s language skills.

Ran	Man	Her
Here	Dog	Him
Cow	Home	Fat
Good	Ride	His
Day	Cat	Like
Car	Box	Hot
Play	Ball	Cold
Bed	Yes	Book
Pan	No	Far
Fun	One	Tree

Vocabulary Words for Grade 1

Bat	Cake	Train
Bee	Candy	Who
About	City	Why
Add	Child	Rock
Bill	Brown	Room
Bird	Brother	Seem
Ate	Club	Seen
Ask	Dear	Little
An	Deep	Jump
As	Doing	Inch
Ago	Change	How
After	Down	Very
Buy	Dress	Walk
Bus	Drop	Wing
Base	Door	Wish
Blue	Doll	Your
Black	Call	Yet

Vocabulary Words for Grade 2

Dear	Mumble	Instead
Huge	Enormous	Attention
Worried	Special	Prefer
Positive	Miserable	Ignore
Grumpy	Embarrassed	Annoy
Wonder	Searching	Almond
Ordinary	Measuring	Arrest
Gigantic	Disappointed	Backbone
Warning	Respect	Base
Opposite	Lovely	Custard
Frustrated	Discover	Dance
Uncomfortable	Rhyme	Customer
Observing	Listen	Blister
Focus	Directions	Butter

Needless to say, vocabulary words need to progressively increase in number and complexity. For instance, by the time the child is in Grade 2, he or she could be introduced to the following words.

While the above implies an indicative list of words, here are a few handy activities to help children learn new words and improve their language skills.

Conversations

One of the best ways to help develop children’s vocabulary is for them to be in a language-rich environment. Initiate conversations with your child, describing situations, emotions, thoughts, etc. While you need to keep the vocabulary age-appropriate, the child will pick up several new words if he or she continues to hear them being used. The next time you visit a supermarket or travel, simply talk about what you see.

Pro tip- When speaking with children, we often dumb down our vocabulary or think that easy talking would help them better understand. However, this act will automatically slow the learning process of proper pronunciation.

In addition, remember that you should have an actual conversation with your child rather than following a path of monologues. An excellent way to do that is to keep your questions open-ended, encouraging the child to think of words and put their thoughts into words. The more practice they will do, the more confident they will be.

A strong vocabulary isn’t just about knowing many words; it’s about understanding their meanings and using them effectively in various contexts. Initiating conversation with your children will nurture an open parent-child communication bond.

Reading

There is no better way to build a child’s vocabulary than to read to them. The more they are exposed to new words and hear the word and its usage, the more they will find a place in their vocabulary.

Allow the child to choose what they read or what they want to read to them. When the subject is of interest to them, they are likely to absorb new words they encounter. It is a significant advantage that they will also develop a lifelong love for reading.

Missing Vocabulary words

Based on the new words that you may have taught them, it will be a great idea to play a fun missing vocabulary word game. You could offer them simple sentences with a missing word. Seeing the light in their eyes as they supplement the disappeared word will be a pleasure.

Word of the Day

Introducing the child to a new word every day will also be a good idea. The word should be age-appropriate. Remember to share the meaning of the word and its popular usage for the child to imbibe it.

Roll a Dice

Once you have introduced some new words to the child, you could also play the Roll a Dice game, where the dice represent six vocabulary activities as below:

• Meaning of the word
• Its usage in a sentence
• Opposite of that word
• Rhyming word
• Draw the word
• Enact it

This can be a fun game as you roll the dice, and the child takes to responding to a different aspect of the word.

Bring new words to life

Each time you have introduced a new word, try to find its picture or usage somewhere. For instance, if the word you submitted to the child is an emotion and you find an image where the person is displaying that emotion, it will be an excellent way for the child to see that word come to life. This way, the word isn’t just an academic exercise for the child but a part of life.

Repeat, repeat, repeat

Remember that for a word to register with the child, he needs to encounter it several times. This will enable the word to settle into the child’s long-term memory and get added to their vocabulary.

To Sum Up

The significant bit when it comes to improving children’s vocabulary is for them to be in a language-rich environment. At Footprints, a preferred preschool and daycare chain that has emerged as a parenting partner, we follow the scientifically developed HighScope Curriculum Communication. Among other things, the curriculum allows for language development in the context of trusting relationships. There are opportunities throughout the routine where the child is encouraged to express their thoughts. Active listening and asking open-ended questions are vital to the child’s language development.

Here’s to raising a generation of empathetic listeners and good communicators.