What can families do to help

kids' language development?

Melanie Sedergreen
 Language
Development

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 Language
develops first
through
speaking and
listening.

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Before kids start school, they are already building a language foundation that will help them learn to read. By
the age of 4, kids use most speech sounds. These speech sounds are necessary for them learn and distinguish
letter sounds.
 • Kids need many opportunities to
practice speaking and listening
because it builds vocabulary and
knowledge which become
foundations for later language
development.

Practice speaking and

listening

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generational-family-clip-art
Our vocabulary
is like a personal
dictionary inside
our brain.

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 You can use and explore interesting words to
build your child's vocabulary. Start by using kid
friendly language to define new words. For
How can I example, enormous is something really, really
big. Next, provide a familiar example like Big
help develop Bird from Sesame Street. Then ask your child
vocabulary? to try and think of their own example. You can
develop your child's vocabulary this way
through conversation and books (from Reading
Rockets, Building Your Child's Vocabulary).
It is helpful to think
of these language
skills as strands that
weave together to
make a strong rope
(Scarborough,
2001).
Providing kids with speaking and
listening practice also helps them
learn the structures of language.

For example, a child in early development might point

and say 'dog' when they see a dog at the park. Dog is
part of the child's vocabulary. A child who has begun
learning language structures can form a sentence,
'There is a dog.' Learning the patterns of language
structures also helps build the foundation for reading
development.
As language
development For example, a child might infer that the dog in
progresses, the park will react to a rabbit that has just
children use hopped out of the bushes. The child might say,
"The dog is going to chase the rabbit." They
knowledge are using their background knowledge,
and vocabulary vocabulary, and language structures to make a
to make sense conclusion about what they see.
of the world.
The Language - Reading Connection

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When kids learn to
read, they attach
new knowledge to
their language
foundations.
Kids learn to match sounds to the letters
of the alphabet and words.
For example, they will learn to match the beginning
sound in the word bag, to the letter B. They will also
learn that bag is a short sounding word. They will
eventually match the letter sounds in B-A-G with their
knowledge that bag is a short sounding word and this
will help them learn to read the word bag.
How can you
help?
Help your child to notice these
sounds. For example, ask them
"Can you make the beginning
sound of bag?" You can also ask
them to notice longer words and
shorter words. For example, dad is
a shorter word than father.
What if
English is not
the language
spoken at
home?

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The same ideas are
relevant across
languages.
• Practice speaking and listening
to develop vocabulary, language
structures and conclusion
making. Help kids to notice
sounds in words and the length
of sounds.
• Kids will use their
home language skills to develop
their English skills.
• Consider watching English TV
and videos and socializing with
English speaking kids

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References
• Scarborough, H. S. (2001). Connecting early language and literacy to
later reading (dis)abilities: Evidence, theory, and practice. In S.
Neuman & D. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook for research in early
literacy (pp. 97–110). New York, NY: Guilford Press. Retrieved from:
https://dyslexiaida.org/scarboroughs-reading-rope-a-groundbreaking-
infographic/
• Gough, P. & Tunmer, W. (1986). Decoding, reading, and reading
disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7, 6–10. Cited in Farrell,
L., Hunter, M., Davidson, M., Osenga T. (2019). The simple view of
reading. Retrieved
from: https://www.readingrockets.org/article/simple-view-reading