Wouldn’t it be easy if we all knew exactly what someone else is talking about? But, it’s not and, therefore, learning to use adjectives isn’t just a skill kids need for school and writing, but also for conversation and life. Here are 5 easy ways to teach your kids to describe.
Use describing words in your conversation
Don’t just say “Over there, to your right, see it?” As an adult, you need to model the desired behavior, so make sure you’re describing with more than the basic words.
Give kids time
Try not to jump in and give an answer, but count to ten after your child finishes his thoughts to make sure he’s really finished. Often times, when given quiet time to think about what he’s just said, he’ll think of more to add to the conversation.
Listen and question
Pay close attention to the way he is describing something, so that you have questions to ask for further discussion. Perhaps he uses the word “huge.” We know that “huge” is a relative term, so ask him what he means by the word or to compare the size to something else.
Discuss feelings
Sometimes the looks of an object give a child a feeling–the feeling is very much a part of the describing process. In fact, describing feelings is often more difficult that describing an object because feelings aren’t tangible. As children grow to be stronger writers, they’ll learn to tie together feelings and objects as they describe.
Practice using describing words as a game
This is an easy game for waiting in line or in the car. Select an object and take turns describing it together without saying what it is. It’s even more fun to do this with a friend who can guess what you’re describing. Similarly, play a detective game. You’re a detective and your child is the witness. The witness can give three clues to help you solve the case.
© 2015, Julie Meyers Pron. All rights reserved.
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