Steps to Developing Language Fluency in Young Children

An important way to develop fluency is to provide children with a rich variety of words. One approach is to a take a familiar core word and build a web of related words around it. For example, using the word bat as a core word help children find other related words such as baseball, base, batsman, catcher and umpire. Discuss the word bat further using a completely different approach and inspire children to find new words such as nocturnal, caves, wing span and habitat. As children become familiar with related words they gain the self-confidence needed to read aloud and to decode new words.

Index: Steps to Developing Language Fluency in Young Children

1. Does Your Child have the Ability to Link Letters and Sounds Together?
2. Is Your Child Familiar with Words that Form Opposites?
3. Can Your Child Build New Words from a Single Core Word?
4. Can Your Child Sound Out Rhyming Words?
5. Has Your Child Learned about Compound Words?
6. Can Your Child Build Words using Ending Clusters?
7. Is Your Child Familiar with Beginning Blends?
8. Have You Encouraged Independent Reading?
9. Do You Read Books Yourself?