Activities for Language Development in Seven-Year-Olds
A seven-year-old's language skills are developing at a different rate and in a different direction from how they did when he was three or four. Rather than learning language and literacy through immersion and imitation as he did at a younger age, your seven-year-old will be learning higher-level language and literacy skills that are actively taught rather than passively acquired. There are a number of activities that can enhance these skills.
Other People Are Reading
-
Reading
-
One of the best activities for a seven-year-old's language development is regularly reading to her. Reading to your child will help her develop a love for reading and also expose her to words that she wouldn't otherwise encounter in her day-to-day life. Make reading a part of your daily routine; it is an excellent "chillout" activity before your child goes to bed.
Vocabulary Hike
-
Take your child on a walk through a park or the woods, and have him take a shoebox or some other kind of container. Have him pick up any objects that interest him and label them. Encourage him to ask questions about anything he doesn't understand. This will help him develop his vocabulary and language skills by relating them to things he sees and finds interesting in the real world.
-
Jokes
-
Keep an age-appropriate joke book in the car. Whenever you're driving somewhere, have your seven-year-old read you some jokes. This will make reading more enjoyable by making it an entertaining activity while driving (as sitting in a car is excruciating for most children), and since the jokes will (mostly) be funny he will relate to them more. These "incidental" vocabulary builders are extremely effective because they do not feel like chores, but rather like fun, routine activities.
Word Writing
-
Make up a "theme" of words every few weeks. For example, one of your themes could be compound words. Whenever your child thinks of or hears a word that corresponds to the theme, write it in a prominent place in your house. This could be on a whiteboard or on a large piece of paper. This helps your child think about vocabulary and gives her a visual record to show how much she is improving over time.
-
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images
