Learning Together is an Institut des troubles d’apprentissage initiative to help your child overcome difficulties in English and math. Discover our activities designed to help you support them as they develop their literacy and numeracy skills!
A broad vocabulary is foundational when it comes to understanding a text and knowing how to correctly use words in a sentence. Learning a new word is a bit like mental gymnastics—it involves much more than straightforward memorization. You need to know its definition, some of its synonyms, recognize its class and gender, and so on. But don’t worry! The strategies shared in these activities will help you support your child effectively!
These 9 activities are designed to fit easily into your family routine and to be done in order. They were created specifically to help children with learning disabilities, but all children can benefit from them!
Supplies Needed:
This first activity is designed to help your child understand the meaning of a word based on its definition. By mastering this strategy, your child will be able to describe the meaning of a new word in their own words to ensure they truly understand it!
Help your child understand the meaning of a word by using appropriate synonyms or antonyms to broaden their vocabulary and improve their reading comprehension. This will encourage them to think about the nuances of meaning and develop their ability to choose the right word to express their ideas.
As your child learns to distinguish between generic and specific words, their vocabulary will become richer and more precise. Gradually, they’ll start to make connections between words and classify them in the appropriate categories. For example, it will become natural for them to classify the specific word sock under the generic category of clothing.
This activity helps students realize that the same word can have multiple meanings, depending on the context in which it is used. The word work is a good example: It can be used as a common noun such as when you do your work in school, but also as a conjugated verb, such as in He works at the bank. Feel free to encourage your child to look words up in the dictionary to expand their vocabulary. It’s a winning formula for choosing the right words!
Activity # 5 : Attention to Details!
Recognizing that each word has its own mental image and written form is essential for learning to read and write. This activity encourages your child to pay close attention to how words are spelled. The strategies provided help them form a clear mental picture of words, which aids both in memorizing them and in understanding the texts they read.
This sixth activity is designed to help your child recognize clues in the way words are formed. By putting this strategy into practice, it will be easier for them to understand the meaning of unfamiliar words. For example, by recognizing that the words sing, song, and singer belong to the same word family, they can use what they already know to better understand a new word.
When your child learns recognize the part of speech and gender of English words, they gain an essential understanding of how words have to agree, as well as the order they go in when used in a sentence. The tips in this activity make mastering this grammatical concept child’s play!
The purpose of this activity is to help your child learn that there are natural word associations in every language. This understanding is crucial for choosing the right words, broadening our vocabulary, and properly organizing the words in a sentence.
Well done! You’ve made it to the final activity! For a young child, it’s natural to write using the same language register they would use when speaking. However, different types of written works require their own tones and registers. This activity is designed to introduce your child to these nuances so that they can adapt their writing style to different contexts.
This sequence is part of a collection of tools and resources to help your child develop reading, writing, and math skills.
Check out our featured topic Learning Together to explore our entire collection of activities!
The activities were written by Marie-Lou Laplante, a learning specialist, for the Institut TA.