Foundation Stage Vocabulary Parent Meeting

Having a good vocabulary means that we know and understand and can say lots of words. This is important for children when they are learning to talk. It has an impact in lots of different ways.

A good vocabulary helps children when they are starting to talk to talk in sentences.

It is also really important to support children when they are learning to read.

Children need words to be able to understand what they read, and to be able to make guesses when they can’t understand. They work things out using the words they know...their vocabulary.

It helps them to be able to write in a more interesting way.

Which is more interesting. It is a cat Which is more interesting? It is a cat. or It is a small, black cat with a shiny red collar.

A good vocabulary also helps us to explain ourselves and get our needs met.

When learning new words there are lots of things children have to be able to do to understand to say a new word and get it right. They have to remember the sounds they hear and the order they come in, they have to find a meaning for the word and then they have to work out where it might go in a sentence.

How many words should my child know How many words should my child know? Children say their first words about the age of one (although they understand them for some time before this). By about 18 months children should use about 20 words, but they’ll understand more. By two years old, we expect children to say 50 words and understand between 200 and 500.

By three years old they’ll be able to use about 300 words By three years old they’ll be able to use about 300 words. By the time a child reaches five years old they’ll know and use as many as 2,500 words. So, you can see that their vocabulary develops rapidly and we expect them to understand lots more words than they say.

Top tips to help with language and vocabulary development… Use simple, repetitive language. Keep sentences short as you describe what is happening. E.g. “We’re driving in the car” or “Wow, you’re building a tower” Make the most of everyday routines for language development. Talk about what you are doing during activities like breakfast time, bath time and make these fun, language filled times.

Help them to learn words by giving them choices Help them to learn words by giving them choices. Offer 2 things giving them the word, for example “do you want milk, or juice?” as you hold them up in front of them. Questions like these are better than ones that only require a yes/no response, like “do you want juice?” Extend the words things that children say by adding an extra word for example “ car”, “yes red car” Try not to correct pronunciation. Instead model the word back in the right way e.g. “tar” “yes car”

You do not need to have a special time to practice talking You do not need to have a special time to practice talking. It just needs to be part of everyday activities.

Shopping (finding things in different categories like fruit or things in tins can be fun) Doing the housework or washing (sorting clothes into groups, for example things for your legs, or talking about how things feel as you wash them) Getting ready in the morning (naming clothes, and talking about the different actions like brushing, pulling, finding) are simple to do and really can help.

Reading and sharing books with our children really helps to develop vocabulary. These can be stories, non fiction and picture books

Less of this 

More of this 