Skills Children Need to Be Readers By Third Grade

Vocabulary
By Christianne Meneses Jacobs

Your child is a sponge for language acquisition. Your child learns new words everyday such as names of family members and relatives, objects around the house, colors, body parts, animals, shapes and many more. Your child will learn these words by hearing you talk. That is why it is so important to talk to children even if they can’t respond yet.

The familiarity and knowledge of words forms a strong foundation for learning to read. A child uses his/her knowledge of words to figure out and make sense of new words. It is easier and faster to read a word that a child already knows. This ability to recognize those words will become important when reading with fluency.

A young child needs to learn about 2,000 words in order to communicate effectively. By the time your child enters first grade, your child should know about 10,000 words. Parents can start building a strong foundation in vocabulary development by helping their children on a daily basis. For example, point out objects in a picture, read the comics and the newspaper, talk while on a walk, and when riding in the car (instead of watching a video in the back of the car.) The world is full of new words. You can help your child learn three words a day. Your child will be successful in school with a broad knowledge of words.