Find Books for Increasing Your Child’s Language Skills

Can you use books to increase your child’s language skills?

Yes! Reading books for increasing your child’s language skills is an evidence-based approach. We have research and scientific studies that have proven the positive impact of reading books to our toddlers, especially their vocabulary development (think both expressive and receptive language skills).

In 2002, The National Literacy Panel did a massive study on early literacy and it’s impact on child development which you can find here. But buckle up, it is a 449 page document. Another study, found here, demonstrated how a toddler’s vocabulary skills were a recognized predictor for later reading skills and general academic success. Truthfully, I could list SEVERAL more studies, but I think we get the point.

Obviously, there is a lot of talk and research around the importance of reading to your children. So let’s talk about HOW to read to our kids in a way that has the biggest impact on their vocabulary and learning.

Reading strategies to increase language skills.

1. Repeat repeat repeat. Toddlers need several opportunities to learn new vocabulary words. Research indicates that it is necessary for toddlers to have high repetition of words, in context, for them to attach meaning to those words. Find books that have HIGH levels of repetition of single words and phrases. Some of my favorite high repetition books that my kids love are the “Old Lady Who Swallowed a ____” series. You can find the list of those books here.
2. Engage! Audio books are a wonderful tool for exposing your child to reading more books. However, to have the biggest impact on reading books to increase your child’s language skills, the research is clear that when the reader engages with the child during shared reading, the child is more likely to gain these new vocabulary words. Specific strategies during shared reading to increase language skills include;
   • highlighting the word to be taught
   • modifying the voice intonation
   • emphasizing the target words during the story reading
   • start conversations about the target words before, during, and/or after reading the story
3. The use of complementary activities to the story, of a playful nature and related to the words present in the story, has also been shown to increase engagement and active participation of children in activities about the book (Hassinger-Das et al., 2016). Need ideas of HOW to use complementary activities? See number 4 below!
4. Expand on vocabulary taught in the book using complementary activities. If you read the book From Head to Toe by Eric Carle, some great expansion activities include
   • Singing “Head, shoulders, knees and toes”
   • Matching game identifying all of the animals in the book
   • Matching game identifying all of the body parts in the book
   • Practicing answering WHO questions about the book
     • You could make finding the animal pictures a fun scavenger hunt around the house or hide the pictures in a sensory tub
   • Click HERE to view a sample of my From Head to Toe At-Home Activity Pack

Worried that your child’s language development is delayed? Read HERE to read if your child needs speech therapy to increase their language skills.