New York City kindergarten admission tests require children to have a versatile vocabulary.
Reading books, excursions to Manhattan museums, and routine walks around the city provide opportunities to expand your child’s vocabulary. But what if you’re not exactly sure about effective ways of doing so?
Practice similarities and category naming!
Once you start, you’ll see how easy it can be to ask your child these vocabulary questions.
Try category cards!
Or use pictures or toys you already have. For example, place two or more related pictures or objects in front of your child one at a time and encourage them to label each one (e.g., cow, pig, chicken).
Then, prompt: “They are all _____.” If your child says “animals,” respond “Yes! They are all animals – what kind of animals are they?”
If your child doesn’t come up with “farm animals,” provide another cue: “Where do these animals live?”
If the “where” question is too tricky, provide choices (e.g., Do the cow, pig, and chicken live on a farm or in the ocean?).
Always provide positive reinforcement and hints to allow your child to feel successful.
When these games are mastered, try category labeling/similarities without props. You can make up the questions or try the reference list below.
Keep Your Child Motivated
For motivation, have your child take a turn at a board game (e.g., Candyland) or place two Perfection pieces (with the timer off) after attempting to answer a question. (To celebrate your child’s success, allow the pieces to pop when all the spaces have been filled.) Or add movement! Allow a turn at Twister or make up your own narrative to Hullabaloo (the recording will go too fast to answer your category questions simultaneously). Hullabaloo is a category game in itself!
Get Started with These Category Naming & Similarities
Provide a category and have your child name three items that fit into the category (e.g., Tell me three things you do in the summer.)
More to try – Name three:
- Sweet things
- Vegetables
- Parts of your body
- Holidays
- Fruits
- Things you can read
- Things you can eat with a spoon
- Salty things
- Sports
- Things you can write with
Next, engage your child in labeling the category – Prompt: “Trumpet, flute, piano—they are all_____.”
- brush your teeth, eat breakfast, get dressed (things you do in the morning)
- car, boat, bike (things that go, things you can take a ride on, vehicles)
- nose, ears, mouth (parts of the face)
- grass, spinach, frog (green things)
- Monday, Thursday, Friday (days of the week)
- chair, bed, desk (furniture)
- circle, triangle, square (shapes)
- slide, swing, jungle gym (things you find at the playground)
- shirt, shorts, jacket (things you wear)
- rainy, snowy, sunny (types of weather)
Stephanie Sigal provides private:
- Language therapy for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers
- Speech therapy for toddlers through school-age children
- Kindergarten Prep for three to five-year-old children in their Upper East Side, Manhattan homes. You can contact Stephanie at sayandplay@yahoo.com or 646-295-4473