Language
Since we are such a TRADITIONAL preschool today we taught something a little more innovative and fun. We all did the cha cha slide . 🙂
We also played a language game. I would show the children a picture and then ask W questions about the picture ? The idea of the game is to develop oral language. Examples :
There was a highway filled with cars and you could see red tail lights .
What do we see ? Cars.
Me .. oh, there are a lot of vehicles on that road.
Child : I don’t have a vehicle I have a car .
Me : Cars and vehicles are the same thing.
Child: Oh ok. I still don’t have a vehicle.
Why do we see red lights ?
Are they going fast or slow ?
Where do you think they are headed ?
Another picture had two girls in the kitchen with mixing bowls and flour on their forehead. ( Classic huh ?) I asked :
What is happening in this picture ?
What do you think they are making ?
Have you ever cooked in your kitchen ?
What did you make ?
What did it taste like ?
What do you think their cake looked like when they were finished ?
Were they having fun?
In order to expand children’s language we have to have in-depth back and forth conversations with them . We have to ask them questions and really listen so we can ask even more questions . We have to challenge them by using different words .
Have you heard of the 30 million word gap ?
” The results of the study were far more severe than anyone could have anticipated. Observers found that 86% to 98% of the words used by each child by the age of three were derived from their parents’ vocabularies. Furthermore, not only were the words they used nearly identical, but also the average number of words utilized, the duration of their conversations, and the speech patterns were all strikingly similar to those of their caregivers. ”
It’s important to talk to our littles.
If you want to read more about the 30 million word gap you can google it and the results are everywhere.