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Prepare Children for Pre-K and Kindergarten

Recipe for Readiness Part 1: Language Development

July 13, 2023

by: Diane Craig and Vicki Marvy

7 mins

 

Whether you are a teacher or summer program instructor, summer is a great time to get children ready for school with high-impact, high-fun activities. Join us this summer for the full menu on early literacy readiness skills. In this five-part blog series, we provide Recipes for Readiness addressing:  

  • Language Development 
  • Phonological and Phonemic Awareness 
  • Book Awareness and Print Concepts 
  • Alphabet Knowledge and Beginning Phonics 
  • Writing and Drawing 

In this blog, we cook up fun around language development.  

Remember to...

Model: All people learn by seeing something demonstrated, doing it together with help, and practicing it independently until confident. Just like talking, walking, and riding a bicycle, the same is true for learning to read and write!

Make time: 60–90 minutes throughout the day, depending on the child's stamina.

Download Full Recipe Card

What is Language Development?

Language development is all about increasing a person’s listening and speaking vocabulary. Language development occurs when there is interaction and conversation. 

Note: Rhymes and jingles are fun—great for word play and hearing sounds in our language. Poems touch our feelings, invite imagination and ideas, and inspire thinking.  

Tips for Language Development Success

Talk about the following:

  • Books (pictures, ideas) 
  • Steps of daily routines 
  • Concepts: color, size, time, opposites & shapes 
  • Going places 
  • Following directions (cooking together, making things, playing with blocks) 
  • Thinking out loud 
  • Asking/answering questions 

Ask questions often: When you wonder about the world around you and engage kids with questions, it invites them to think, use language, and feel connected. 

Language Development Activities to Try

Exploring Books 

Spend time with books each day, interspersing this throughout the day, as well as at bedtime. Enjoy browsing, reading, and talking about the books. 

Library Adventures 

Make a weekly trip to the Library! Select an exciting variety of fiction & nonfiction, fairy tales & folk tales, nursery rhymes & poetry books, and delightfully thematic ABC books. Have fun and follow your child’s interests. 

Picture Walk & Talk  

- While looking (walking)  through the pages of a wordless book or picture book, talk about the story the pictures tell.   

- Use label books or even pictures on your phone to talk about interesting things & concepts.  

Our Wonderful Words! 

Call attention to an interesting word from a story, poem, or conversation. Keep a list of Wonderful Words on your refrigerator! Notice when anyone in your family uses the words and celebrate! 

“Look at the big mountain in this picture. It’s huge. And what’s behind that tall green pine tree? Oh, it’s a little brown deer with white spots. It looks so tiny next to that giant tree.” 

Resources for Language Development

Books:

  • The Library Book by Tom Chapin & Michael Mark 
  • Reading Makes You Feel Good by Todd Parr 
  • Mr. Panda (book series) by Steve Antony 
  • Goodnight Gorilla* by Peggy Rathmann 
  • Have You Seen My Duckling* by Nancy Tufuri 
  • Label Books by Richard Scarry & Wonder House 
  • *wordless books (great for imagination and conversation)

Songs and Chants:

  • Going on a Bear Hunt
  • Wheels on the Bus
  • If You're Happy and You Know It...
  • Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear

Poems and Rhymes Anthologies:

  • Sign a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems
  • I'm Small and Other Verses by Lillian Moore

 

 

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