How Vocabulary building supports Performing Well in School
As parents, we all wish to see our children perform well in school and also in their journey of life. While many a times we focus on teaching them basics like reading, writing, counting or even push them for co-curricular activity participation in schools; one critical part is often overlooked by all of us is : VOCABULARY Building. Having a well-built vocabulary means knowing many words, which does play a key role in helping kids excel in their educational journey.
This has been observed that Children with extensive vocabularies (learnt at early ages before 10 years) usually perform better throughout the school.
Comprehension in Reading is the foundation Learning anything. Whether the Learner is trying to solve a word problem in mathematics, or reading an experiment in science — it all boils down to the the ability of the child to understand the written word. Vocabulary plays an important role in this journey. Children with a vast vocabulary find it easier to understand new texts as they manage to recognize and comprehend more words, grasping the subject overall faster.
Vocabulary encourages the children to learn new words, which helps them convey their message clearly, write better and be more creative. Writing tasks become a cake walk when they have ample words in their head to use, and hence they enjoy writing. Hence Vocabulary aids impressive Writing skills.
A child possessing strong vocabulary not only manages reading or writing but also succeeds in analyzing situations well as Words are the real tools for thinking. Eg Games like Crossword puzzles, Scrabble can help children think critically about word formation and usage.
Let’s take a scenario of a Classroom where children are asked to share their experiences & give their opinions on a specific topic. It is obvious, a child with the extensive Vocabulary is sure to participate and express more confidently because he or she has more words in his/her mind that matches the topic. However, the ones who have lesser word bank may avoid expressing, even if they understood the topic better.
That feeling of being safe to talk / express and discuss matters with class fellows and teachers has a huge impact on the overall performance of a child in school. It helps in creating a viscious circle that is positively impactful, as the more kids participate, the more they learn, and the more self-confident they become, to face the outside world.
