Universal Strategies

The following strategies can be useful to help children with vocabulary difficulties.

• Repeat, Repeat, Repeat!

  Children need to hear a word being used lots of times and in different situations before they will understand what the word means.

• Use Real Experiences

  Children learn new words best when they hear them used within their own experiences.

  Let the child experience the objects, feelings or concepts first-hand so that the words have more meaning. Wherever possible, allow the child to touch, feel and handle objects that you are teaching the names for.

  Where the new vocabulary is a verb (a doing word, for example walk, run, sleep), encourage the child to do the activity themselves, or watch someone else doing it. Try not to simply use pictures unless this is unavoidable.

• Reinforce

  Try to reinforce vocabulary with songs and rhymes as well as books. 

• Describe

  When describing new words, use children’s existing knowledge to help them understand. Talk about what it does, where we would find it, what it looks like, what category (group) it belongs to and what the word rhymes with.

  Giving children these details about a word will help them to learn and remember it in a more organised way.

• Revisit

  It’s important to go back and explore new words again and again, to make sure that they aren’t forgotten. You might like to make a display of important new words or collect items that relate to the new words your child has learned. 

• Check Understanding

  Check children's understanding along the way because a child needs to understand what a word means before they can use it.

• Emphasis

  Emphasise the keywords and concepts in sentences when speaking. For example: "The mouse is under the box,” or “Your shoes are shiny."

• Introduce One Concept At A Time

  When speaking, introduce one concept at a time, for example, the concept of 'empty'. Use every opportunity to talk about it and reinforce it in everyday situations.

  Don’t mention a “full” tank, instead, talk about “not empty” to prevent the child from mixing up the labels.

  When you are confident they are sure of the new concept, you can introduce the opposite (but you might want to focus on different words first!).

• Links and Clues

  Try and link new vocabulary to information the child already knows, for example with 'wellies' or 'boots', link them to 'shoes'.

  Give clues about the sound structure or meaning of the word to support word learning, including the beginning sound/syllable of the word and what it looks like or does.

  For example: "It begins with S, has one beat (clap), is yellow and hot and we see it in the sky."

• Topics and Word Of The Week

  Topic work provides the opportunity for children to explore new objects and language that they may not have experienced. It also helps children see how words are linked.

  Target a specific word each week, and involve parents in reinforcing this at home too.