Summer is the perfect time to build vocabulary: There are no school assignments. No reason to balk at reading. Nothing future-defining at stake. Except for vocabulary-building, so that your child can read and write the materials required as they advance in school and their career.
Concept Words
We’re big on this mode of vocabulary-building. We start with the word for a concept the kids already know, then ask them how to express degrees of that concept. For instance: HOT. They typically say, “Very hot; very, very hot; a little bit hot …” That’s fine, but we know there are words that mean very hot, a little bit hot, etc. More than that, many pieces of writing use those synonyms rather than writing very, very hot, etc. It matters because if a book talks about scalding water and your child has no idea what scalding means, they are left to miss the impact of the sentence or hope for context clues.
Make the Summer Count
It’s summer. For most of us, dedicating 10 minutes a day during a carpool, or sitting at the beach, or eating pizza together is not that big a stretch. (At least it’s not as big a stretch as during the school year.)
Dwelling-Related
Dwelling – A dwelling is a place that someone lives – okay, maybe an animal in a pinch. –
Tent – Most tents are of limited size and temporary in nature. You pick a spot, stretch material over structural elements, drive some stakes in the ground to hold it in place. You’ve got a tent.
Cave – Not a place you might choose to live, but certainly a place to take shelter during a storm – after you check to see who is already in this large opening in the rock.
Shelter – Generally a temperory home for people who have no permanent home. There are beds, and a place to keep some of your belongings.
Apartment – An apartment is one place to live in a larger building. You have one or more bedrooms, your own door, and a central lobby where people enter.
Studio – An apartment without a bedroom. Generally small and not at all spacious. The kitchen area will be miniscule and just what is needed at the least level.
RV – This is a home on wheels. You can drive it with the controls inside the vehicle. You can check into a trailer park and hook up to electricity and water. You will often have a shower and toilet in the vehicle. Als, a bedroom with a door. Everything is compact and designed to meet your needs without a lot of frills.
Lean-to – Pretty much the definition of temporary, a lean-to consists of tree branches leaning at a diagonal against a wall or tree.
Your Turn
Okay. the words we’ve used to describe the concept of dwelling are:
dwelling; tent; cave; shelter; apartment; studio; RV; and lean-to.
Help your child to put them in order as descriptions of size. Doing this helps them to describe more and less of the concept without using words like very; very, very; more; a little less; a lot less; etc.
When you’re done, drop your answer in the comments!