Family literacy 3

 

Family literacy

Macedonian template for a workshop with parents

 

Language development is a vital part of communication in the early years.

During the early years, children must develop both receptive and expressive language. Parents within their families can help their children develop language through activities and interaction. The way to interact with the children is to spend time with them and to seize the opportunities and learn during the play.

Here are some simple and fun language activities:

1. Storytelling - Books and telling stories are one of the best ways to encourage language. Read age-appropriate story or just tell story through the pictures. Start early books experiences with board books and use sensory books to encourage your children to touch and feel items in the pictures.

2. Picture books - Picture books and non-fiction books provide great opportunities for developing language. Many picture relate to specific themes. Looking at a page about the farm, for example, teaches a variety of vocabulary related to farms. Some picture books with hidden items in the pictures or spot-the-difference pictures. These picture books encourage observation skills as well as language stimulation.

3. Puppet Shows - Playing with puppets and making up puppet shows is wonderful for language development. Children feel free to talk through their puppet friends. They can also tell a favourite fairy tale using puppets.

4. Touchy-feely Bags - This is a very good way to encourage children to describe objects. You need a cloth bag to put small objects into so they are not visible. The items are put into the bag and your child puts their hand into the bag to feel one of the items. Then the item is described to you. You have to guess what it is.

5. Fantasy Play at Home - Creating fantasy scenarios at home really encourages language and helps children have different social experiences in the comfort of their homes. Here are some ideas for fantasy play:

- Set up a corner and play “shop”.

- Have a tea party and invite a friend to dress up.

- Play having a wedding or party or just play “house”.

- Nursery Rhymes and Finger-plays

Saying rhymes and learning finger-plays helps develop language through repetition and memorizing the words of the rhyme. Repetition is very important in learning a language. If you are not familiar with the age-old favourites you can listen to songs on YouTube. Playing word games and singing silly songs will increase your child’s vocabulary in an entertaining way.

6. Card Games - There are numerous card games available, which encourage vocabulary development. Matching pairs is one way of playing with cards. Playing card games develops social interaction and vocabulary associated with the game.

There some other tips for encouraging language development:

- Pay attention to your children when they are talking to you

- Praise good speech and vocabulary

- Help with new words by repeating them

- Add onto phrases or words and boost vocabulary

- Never make fun of mistakes

- Talk about what you are doing as you do your daily chores

- Be a good role model

The rate children learn new words is amazing. They learn quickly and soak up every word they hear. What a great joy to be part of their language learning experience.

 

This project was funded by the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author. The European Commission and the National Agency are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.