Tip #1: Build in time for rich conversation in your home
* Turn off the cell phones, tv, and close your laptops when you have time for a "real conversation"
* Set the tone by reminding your child to bring something "to the table" to share.
*Keep meal time talk relaxing & pleasant.
* Remember to chose worlds that enrich your child's vocabulary: The potatoes are "delectable" instead of "good". During a TV show: Why was the policeman "reluctant" to go into the house?
* Make connections from your own experience: "That happened to me in the 4th grade..."
* Extend one-word or phrase answers by modeling the use of complete sentences and correct grammar. Language is refined & improved by example!
* Ask "why" and "how" questions requiring more than "yes" or "no" responses.
* Use starters like these to extend your child's language: Tell me more...; Why do you think that is?; how did that happen?
Tip #2 Encourage sophisticated vocabulary use at home.
* Choose a "word of the week" from vocabulary lists, independent reading, or tv shows. Choose words that are unfamiliar and/ or unused in your child's conversation and post on the refrigerator. Use the word in conversation as much as possible.
* Write vocabulary words on strips of scrap paper or index cards. Ask your child to sort words, after you read each. He might sort by meaning, by part of speech, by relationships (igloo, tent, huts are all shelters... endangered, vulnerable, jeopardized could describe the rainforest.) Just make sure there's an "oddball" category for words that don't fit into categories. The object of the activity is to discuss and debate ways of sorting words and explore meanings, not to find the "right or wrong" answer.
* Incorporate varied sentence structure and more specific and varied verbs & adjectives into your conversation. Instead of "the wind is blowing hard", say "the trees are swaying in the wind"
* Play "what is, what it's not" with chosen vocabulary words. Plan examples of situations that do or don't describe the word's use to help you child think and make choices.
Tip #3: Make comprehension, writing, & fluency practice relevant & fun!
* Have your child select tv shows for the day and write a persuasive essay to why she should be allowed to watch that show.
* Start a "book club" that only has the members in your family; or just you and your child. Read the same book (together and independently). Highlight interesting words, discuss characters, predict and confirm actions and events. Enjoy the shared reading experience!
* Choose your child's favorite song and ask her to rewrite the lyrics to perform for the family. Rhythm and rhyme support fluency! (This would be a great fun activity for the whole family to do for a family talent show night or something similar).
* Encourage emails, postcards, or letters written to friends and family members.
* Record your child reading a passage and replay so that he can listen. Repeat the activity and challenge him to improve phrasing and expression.
* When YOU read aloud to your child, remember that tone and expression help convey meaning. Model conversational speed, phrasing, and intonation.
* Clip out a current news story or articles from a magazine and cut the paragraphs apart. Ask child to read the paragraphs and put them in order.
* Find an editorial and ask your child to highlight or underline facts in one color and opinions in another.
