Expanding Vocabulary: at the car

Our car is our main mode of transportation, helping us to go about our daily responsibilities; whether it be for work, school, and shopping or leisure time. We could use the time spent in our cars to teach our kids new words making the commute fun, entertaining and educational as well as a bonding experience. How? You may ask, here I give you a couple of ideas on how to.

You could start by asking your child to: “OPEN the door”, next describe cars you see on the road: “look at the GRAY car” “That car is BIG/SMALL” “the car goes bruuum bruuum bruuum, beep-beep-beep”

On your way to school or day care you can say: “look! The SUN” “the HOT sun” “Look! a TRUCK”

When you reach a stop light: “the light is GREEN, YELLOW or RED” “It is GREEN, let’s GO” “the light is RED, it means STOP” You can also describe how the weather is “It is a SUNNY or RAINY day”

We don’t all have the chance to live near farm houses, but if you do, take advantage of this; especially if there are animals near the road you are driving by. “Look a cow” “the cow goes moo moo” “a pig, oink oink” “look sheep, they go baa baa baa”

Singing! Kids love to sing, and let’s be honest, so do we, this a perfect time to sing along to some tunes we probably sang growing up. One great classic song is “The Wheels on Bus”:

The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round.

The wheels on the bus go round and round, all through the town!

The people on the bus go up and down, up and down, up and down.

The people on the bus go up and down, all through the town!

The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep, all through the town!

The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish.

The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish, all through the town!

The signals on the bus go blink, blink, blink, blink, blink, blink, blink, blink, blink.

The signals on the bus go blink, blink, blink, all through the town!

The motor on the bus goes zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom.

The motor on the bus goes zoom, zoom, zoom, all through the town!

The babies on the bus go waa, waa, waa, waa, waa, waa, waa, waa, waa.

The babies on the bus go waa, waa, waa, all through the town!

The parents on the bus go shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.

The parents on the bus go shh, shh, shh, all through the town!

The mummy on the bus says, I love you, I love you, I love you

The daddy on the bus says, I love you, too, all through the town.

Another short and sweet song you can sing along to is “Oh, Mr. Sun”:

Oh Mister Sun, Sun.

Mister Golden Sun.

Won't you please shine down on me?

Oh Mister Sun, Sun.

Mister Golden Sun.

Hiding behind the tree.

These little children

are asking you.

To please come out

so we can play with you.

Oh Mister Sun, Sun,

Mister Golden Sun.

Won't you please shine down on me?

The important thing here is to enjoy these moments, and to always remember anytime is a great time to learn with your child, even if it’s a 15 minute car ride. Try these and let me know your experience by commenting below.

*Translated by Valery Martinez

Expanding Vocabulary: at the supermarket

At least once a week we go to the supermarket, let’s take advantage of this outing to expand your child’s vocabulary. You might think I’m out of my mind, “take my child to the supermarket!?” “ I’d rather go alone, it’s faster, easier!” “My child does not behave; he/she cries and wants to grab everything!” Let’s contemplate this idea, ok? Ok! I will give you some ideas on how to entertain your child at the supermarket while he learns new words; all the while you still check off your shopping list items in the process!

Get your kid excited, “Let’s go shopping!” who doesn’t want to get out the house, and go for a car ride, right!? Remember our car ride lesson in my previous blog? Go ahead, try it again! Every opportunity is a chance for you and your child to learn together. Once you arrive, let’s go straight to the fresh produce area, fruits! One way to get your child engaged with the task at hand is to make them part of the shopping experience. Give them the produce bag, so they can help you out. “Look! A RED, ROUND apple” “Look! What a BIG orange” “a GREEN pear, umm how yummy!” “Let’s put 3 apples in the bag, 1, 2 and 3!” Afterwards, let’s go get some vegetables, again integrating your child by allowing them to have some control by placing the vegetables in the bag. Describe the vegetables by their name, color and size every time you hand it over to your child. I know you have your shopping list, let’s go finish it off, always trying to let your child participate in the process. If you see an item that catches their attention describe it, color, size, shapes! Talk, talk and talk with your child, always in complete ideas and sentences.

Try this out and come back and share your experience with me in the comment section of the blog.

*Translated by Valery Martinez