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.

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