Have you ever come across an instance when a child’s question suddenly leaves you at a loss of words? As you prepare yourself to answer their innocent, yet valid question, you know you must choose your words carefully.
As children’s vocabulary continues to expand, 11-year-olds come across a bunch of words and are acquainted with their literal meanings. But co-relating and associating these words to real life scenarios takes some thought and understanding.
A study conducted in June 2017 across several schools in Bangalore, aimed to throw light on 10-13-year-olds and their capability to connect words with specific real-life tasks. It also suggested that 89% of children who displayed this ability were able to achieve various developmental milestones with perfect ease, whereas 11% of the children found it hard to understand and comprehend the meaning of words.
When you see 11-year-olds have a way with words, you can’t but help you make a mental note of the benefits. These kids:
- Can easily explain the use of chosen words while performing a particular task
- Choose and elaborate the right words in a given context, improving their creative and technical writing abilities
- Are fluent speakers who know when to use which word
- Have excellent persuasion skills; the ability to select the right word clinches an argument and makes it more impactful
- Can play around with words in any given situation, making them conversation winners
All these benefits facilitate and better their academic performance and enable them to rely on learning methods from credible sources.
But it’s not the same for all. Some of the challenges faced by 11-year-olds who are unable to connect words with their applications are:
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- Incapability to use their imagination
- Lack of awareness about what words to use in specific situations/contexts
- Low confidence levels
Sounds overwhelming, right? To enhance your child’s ability to connect words with practical applications, we suggest the following activity.
‘Water, water’ will help kids connect words to different real-life applications. Ask your child to list out at least 4/5 different uses of water each day. You can spread this activity over 4 to 5 days. You can help them out if need be. The activity encourages them to think beyond the routine through an engaging conversation. On a similar note, help your kids understand the use of different words in different situations by showing them the use of these words yourself and also by engaging them in fun and interesting activities.
