Author: adcreators

Vocabulary is important in understanding and describing concepts. After all, we need words to describe how we feel and to understand what other people are saying. With a set of vocabulary common to many of us, we can communicate and cooperate more effectively whether in small groups or entire societies. 

Vocabulary development in children

Because vocabulary is foundational (i.e. vocabulary is often required for literacy, numeracy and other early skills), its development is crucial to children. As they learn more words and attach those words to certain objects, emotions and events, they can better make sense of the world around them. 

Early vocabulary development often happens through conversations, interactions, playtime and story reading. Our brains automatically associate and connect one concept to another. And through repetition, the associations and connections become reinforced. It’s somehow similar to reading a dictionary and memorizing some words and their meanings (i.e. we associate a word to other more familiar words). 

We mentioned earlier that vocabulary is foundational. As a result, it’s crucial that children continue to rapidly expand their vocabulary through the months and years. This way, they will be better equipped in learning math, science, arts and other fields. This will also enrich their understanding and appreciation of the stories we tell them. 

It’s common to see and expect babies at 12 months old to know only two words. By 18 months, it’s expected to be 10 to 50 words. At 2 to 2.5 years, it could be 300 to 450 words. At 5 years, children already know at least 5,000 words. Notice the exponential growth in just a few years. 

This exponential growth is expected because as children understand more words, they become more equipped to learn and understand more. They have more familiar words to attach to unfamiliar ones. As a result, they can quickly expand their vocabulary and better express themselves. 

The key to healthy vocabulary development is through regular interactions both at home and in the early learning centre. As mentioned earlier, our brains automatically form associations and connections and this happens through rich interactions with the environment and other people. This is crucial to the children’s early years when rapid brain development occurs. 

Children naturally and automatically learn language through interaction. The exact process is still poorly understood because we can’t still figure out exactly how our brains work (we might think that we’re not meant to understand how our own minds work).

Language and early childhood development

From what we know so far, language and other essential skills are learned through observation, practice and experience. Children might automatically pick up a few words, sounds, gestures and facial expressions from the adults around them. They will then try to copy how we talk and move. Later on, they might be able to make sense of some of the words and gestures.

Once they learn how to pronounce some words and somehow understand their meaning, they also gain and develop other skills. Language is a foundational skill and it also influences how we think and learn. For example, our range of vocabulary affects our range of thoughts. For children, language can support their thinking and learning. This also allows them to communicate and connect with other children thereby further developing their social skills.

How to support your child’s learning

Because language is essential in further development of our children, it’s important for us parents to support their learning. One way to accomplish this is by regularly communicating with them. In other words, frequent interaction is key to developing language skills.

At age 3 to 12 months, usually they will start to play with a few sounds and gestures. At 12 to 18 months, they might start to understand a few words and instructions. Understanding of short sentences might begin at 18 months to 2 years (and you will also understand what your child is trying to say). At age 3 years and beyond, they will begin to initiate and sustain complex conversations (and also better express themselves).

Throughout those years and developmental stages, our role as parents is to regularly interact with our children and continuously respond to them. This regular feedback is important for them to learn what words mean and letting them know that we’re talking and thinking about the same object, feeling or event. It’s also a way of creating or reinforcing our bond with our children as they rapidly grow and develop through the months and years. 

Yes. Perhaps you’re worried about your child being left behind. However, it’s impossible to predict and tell exactly when your child will learn a given skill. Thankfully, there are developmental milestones that give you a general idea of what to expect of your child as he/she grows older.

Progress differs among children of the same age

Developmental delays of weeks and months are normal. A child only moves forward to the next stage of development only if he/she is ready. It’s even possible that your child will skip a step and directly move onto the next milestone. For example, there are children who just simply started walking and skipped crawling altogether.

In other words, children indeed learn and develop at their own pace. If you’re worried about your child being left behind, keep in mind that he/she should be ready first before moving onto the next stage or milestone. Although there will be delays, what’s important is that you ensure continual progress and that your child acquires new skills as months go by. Here, the focus should also be on progress and not just on specific outcomes at specific dates.

What to expect

To give you a general idea about progress and developmental milestones, here’s a rough guideline for you.

From birth to two months, babies automatically grasp nearby objects as well as follow moving objects with their eyes. At three months, babies start to move their arms and legs well. At six months, babies now often play with their hands and reach for nearby objects. At eight to 12 months, they can now sit without much support and they attempt to stand even for a moment. They might also start to say a few words such as ‘mama’ and shout at times to get your attention.

At one year onwards, they now have an expanded range of physical and cognitive ability. They will start to walk, climb and run. They’ll also start to cooperate with other children during playtime. They also become more expressive of how they feel (especially when they’re upset).

At three to five years, children can now dress themselves with minimal assistance. They also start demonstrating their independence by rejecting some food and activities. They’re now also able to form sentences and tell stories.

Note that it’s only a guideline. What matters is that there’s progress and your child is always in a supportive and encouraging environment, whether at home or at the early learning centre. This is crucial in his/her early years as this is the period when rapid brain development occurs.

As parents, sometimes we’re curious about what’s going on inside of our children’s heads. What are they thinking? How do they learn how to speak, read, write and listen?

Children and literacy

First, literacy is about the ability to communicate. Although often we associate literacy with the ability to read and write, it actually includes all the other dimensions of communication such as listening and speaking.

As a result, we realise that children gain and learn literacy not just in schools and early learning centres, but also in our homes and other environments. After all, literacy is actually being learned continuously through experiences. These experiences include everything that happens to a child and what he/she does.

For example, whenever we talk with children and we ask them how their day was, we actually help them further develop their listening and speaking skills (which are part of literacy). It’s an experience they can learn and benefit from, which is why it’s important that we regularly communicate with our children. It’s a form of practice where they get to further develop their language skills. Although many times they will find it hard to fully express themselves, through regular practice they will undergo improvement.

It’s through experiences and somehow the human brain makes sense of language and communication. It’s like we’re built to understand words and sentences, which is why most of us eventually learn how to speak and listen even without formal instruction. Even with just repetition of the same words, we eventually learn how to copy the pronunciation (and later associate its meaning with a person, object, place or feeling).

It’s actually a long and continuous process for learning. But for children, the pace is accelerated because of their rapid brain development. They regularly pick up words and sounds and then their brains and neurons become busy making sense of it all. In the process, neural connections form or become reinforced. Within a few years, children will have expanded their vocabulary and that will be enough to express themselves and tell a story.

The key here is practice and as parents we can facilitate that. Every day we can talk with our children and let them express themselves. It is a practical and fun way to help them further develop their literacy and communication skills.

If you want to discover your child’s talent, you have to step back and observe what your child naturally does during unstructured playtime.

Discovering your child’s talent and potential

Children are naturally active and energetic. You can’t make them sit down and do nothing for hours. Naturally, they will start doing things as well as explore and tinker around. As you observe, wait and see, there will be special moments where your child will go into intense focus and unusual enthusiasm.

Perhaps your child will pick up a book, a toy (and play with it for more than 30 minutes) or a musical instrument. Your child might also draw endlessly about things he/she has never seen before. Your child might also talk endlessly about a story or character.

Those are indicators of enthusiasm, which could then lead to discovering or developing a talent. After all, talent still requires practice and nurturing (where enthusiasm is naturally a prerequisite). Although genes and natural physical ability still influence what kind and on what level a talent a person has, effort and enthusiasm still play a huge role.

The role of various environments and experiences

Aside from enthusiasm, your child’s environment also plays a huge role in the discovery and nurturing of a talent. For example, many tech founders and CEOs had several computers and gadgets around them when they were children. This encouraged early tinkering and exploration of computers, which gave them early advantages.

It’s about maximising the opportunities and exposure. This will increase the chances of your child stumbling upon a skill or interest. If you’re always alert and present, you’ll naturally notice where your child usually focuses or puts his/her time.

It will take some time from you as a parent. For many days and weeks, it will feel frustrating because nothing shows up. But with enough time and patience, you’ll finally discover your child’s talent and potential. However, expect that it won’t be a “Eureka” moment or something that will blow your mind. It could just be a brief moment of silence and realisation as your child focuses on a certain object or task.

As parents, we want the best for our children. We want them to have a bright future and achieve financial and personal success. Also, we want to be certain that our children can fulfil their potential and follow a predictable path towards meaningful accomplishments.

How do you plan your child’s future

However, more and more things become uncertain now. Perhaps the jobs and businesses of the future will look totally different than what we have now. It’s possible that most jobs today won’t exist 10 or 20 years from now and new jobs and careers will be created. Perhaps the economy will undergo a major transformation because of artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, blockchain and metaverse.

Because of this uncertainty and potential huge transformations, is it still possible to plan for our children’s future? Will our plans make sense given the huge uncertainty and rapid changes we’re about to experience for the years to come? How can we help our children cope and perhaps take advantage of the opportunities of the future?

Opportunities come and go rapidly, which is why the best thing we can do is to help our children become adaptable to changes. This is where a strong foundation really matters because our children may learn various concepts and skills throughout their lifetime. It’s possible that a major career change will happen every few years and that those who learn fast will be richly rewarded.

Aside from adaptability, it’s also good to let our children have a growth mindset. However, is that even possible given their young age? One way to accomplish this is by encouraging our children to play and explore. This way, they slowly and continuously expand their comfort zones and become confident even in unfamiliar situations. In our homes and early learning centres, it’s good to have an emphasis on play and exploration.

It’s also good that our children adopt healthy eating habits early on. If their bodies are strong, they are better equipped to take advantage of opportunities around them in the future. They will have the necessary energy and stamina to work through the new challenges ahead of them. In addition, their healthy eating habits will help them with their physical and cognitive development.

Notice that there’s no specific financial or educational plan mentioned here. That’s because things change and our plans might make no sense a few years from now. It’s still good to have a general plan, but it’s better to be adaptable and recognize the opportunities as they come. As parents, what we can do is to help them better position themselves for a bright future by helping them have a strong foundation.

“It takes a village to raise a child.”

There’s truth in this African proverb as we’ve realised the value of a supportive home and nurturing environment in early childhood development. After all, the environment encompasses not just the physical surroundings, but also the people, objects and emotional experiences (e.g. Does the home or early learning centre feel safe and supportive?).

Community, not just the classroom

For decades the focus had been on classroom learning and academics. However, much of the learning and action might be happening outside the classroom. Outside or even at home, children also absorb and process information. In addition, they gain richer experiences because they get to use all their senses and perform more complex movements (such as jumping and running around).

Thankfully, the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) is leaning more towards holistic learning. The emphasis is on Belonging, Being and Becoming, which involves play-based learning. It also emphasised what learning is all about when the focus shifted from traditional classroom settings and towards more play and interaction.

In one of EYLF’s learning outcomes for children (birth to 5 years), it’s about children being connected with and contributing to their world. It’s important for them to feel they have a sense of belonging to groups and communities. This way, they will start to care about the world they live in and participate in helpful activities. In a way, aside from the community raising a child, the child also somehow influences the community.

Early on, they might already feel a sense of responsibility and contribution. Although this is difficult or impossible to measure (as opposed to test scores), this can affect how they look at the world they live in and how they perceive other people. It can also help them further develop their empathy towards other children and even adults. With this deeper understanding, children can act in a friendly way or let them see other people’s point of view (which can somehow help in collaboration and accomplishing a certain task).

Significant accomplishments mostly require working with other people towards a common goal. Indeed, it takes an entire village or community to accomplish something including raising a child or coming up and executing an innovative idea. Isolation is not a long-term option. The better option is to let our children learn and explore in rich, safe and supportive environments whether it’s in our homes, playgrounds or early learning centres.

Learning and having fun don’t just happen at the early learning centre. It also happens at home where children still spend most of their time. As a result, it’s good to make learning at home more fun and productive to help children with their healthy and rapid development.

How to make learning at home more fun

To make that happen, the emphasis should be on play-based learning (just like the approach of modern early learning centres). This approach is effective and more fun because it engages the children’s senses and arouses their curiosity. They actively engage with the people, places and objects around them. Although learning at home restricts interaction with fellow children, as parents we can still do our part in their need for interaction.

For example, listening to stories is also a form of play. We can tell our children fun stories as a way of helping them develop their language and communication skills. Family-friendly music also helps because this will help hone their pattern recognition skills. With fun family-friendly music, children will also feel the urge to dance as a way of expressing their emotions and creativity. We can do these activities with our children anytime (and without the need for new toys and equipment).

Another form of play is interacting with toys and other objects. This helps toddlers in developing their creativity and motor skills. For instance, when children use pieces of paper, fabric, or even sand and leaves, they’re able to creatively express themselves and put those pieces together to make something new. They’ll explore different combinations and proudly show them to us parents.

For such activities, the NSW Government website recommended online resources such as the Stories Podcast, Busy Toddler and Funbrain Jr Stories. For more information and recommendations, you can visit the NSW Government’s website – Education. The recommendations are safe and age-appropriate (for Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers).

The goal is to keep our children curious and active. It’s also important that the activities have variety so as to continuously stimulate their minds. This way, their brains will be busy every day on absorbing, processing and consolidating new lessons and experiences during their period of rapid physical and cognitive development.

Whether it’s because of new restrictions or our preferences on how our children should be educated, it’s good to become aware of the advantages and disadvantages of learning at home (especially if it’s done full time or on most days). This way we can better anticipate the drawbacks and better compensate for them for the good of our children.

Pros and cons of learning at home for children

Although studying at home seems safer and more convenient, the drawback is that in-person interactions and experiences become severely limited. In other words, our children become less exposed to other people (especially fellow kids) and the environment.

As humans, we learn best and become more resilient through a variety of experiences. It’s similar to “Experience is the best teacher” where we become better equipped to adapt and respond even during a crisis. It’s also a great way of expanding our comfort zone and feeling more confident and stronger when different situations arise.

It’s especially the case with our children where they’re just starting to make sense of the world around them. They require a variety of experiences and inputs for them to figure out how things work. These experiences will help them become more comfortable in a variety of situations. They will also become more confident when interacting with other children especially during playtime.

Many parents view learning at home as a supplement to classroom settings and early childcare centres. It’s a means to support or complement the learning experiences children gain from the outside. Although staying at home is safe and convenient, it’s always recommended to make it temporary because children can still learn more and have more fun if they’re outside.

Safety first, as always. It’s good to stay updated on the information about the red zones and new restrictions. Depending on the area you’re in and the current health status of your children and entire family, it’s always best to stay safe for now. But once the restrictions are lifted and you’ve made sure it’s safe to go and stay outside, it’s time to re-think the advantages and disadvantages of studying at home and the benefits of real-world fun and experience.

To support your child’s learning at home, it’s essential to set up a comfortable learning environment as well as constantly communicate with your child about what he/she is learning each day.

How to support your child’s learning at home

Although schools and early learning centres are specifically designed for rich learning and interaction, still we can make our homes a good learning environment for our children. Whether it’s just supplemental learning or a full learn at home setup, we can still help children become more focused and productive while learning and studying.

One way to accomplish that is by setting up a dedicated space for studying. Ideally, it should be separate from your child’s bedroom or play area. It’s similar to our approach when we have a separate space for leisure and another for work (that’s why we have a home office or we still prefer commuting to work). This separation or compartmentalisation helps us by conditioning our minds and bodies on what to do and where to focus. For example, we find it hard to fully relax if our bedroom is also our workplace. There’s that constant conflict between the bed and our work. Even with great discipline, that persistent conflict can mentally drain us or make it hard to focus on one task at a time.

Our children also experience that when there’s a single space for play, study and sleep. Most likely their minds will often wander during study hours and get distracted all day. It’s possible that at the end of the day, the hours spent studying could have been wasted or that children will feel bored and conflicted all day long.

Aside from having a dedicated space for learning (and making sure it’s well lit and ventilated), it’s also essential to constantly communicate with your child about what he/she is learning. It could be as simple as “What have you learned today?” and asking a few follow-up questions or just reacting enthusiastically. This communication and feedback is important in helping your child develop his/her language and communication skills as well as consolidating what he/she is learning every day.

Learning at home can still be challenging especially if you’re always concerned whether your child is actually learning. You also want each hour of learning to be productive and worthwhile to help your child with his/her rapid development. With your support and attention, it’s possible especially if you constantly communicate with your child and attend to his/her ever changing needs as he/she grows.