Parents of Preschoolers  Discussion Forum

What happens if you only use advanced vocabulary when raising a child (ex, wounded vs boo-boo)? Would the child have a linguistic advantage, or be at a disadvantage considering their peers are learning different words? Arushi replied. If you do this, your child will learn a large vocabulary. This is what I did with my children. By two, they knew all their colors, and not just the primaries. They knew lavender, aqua, peach, etc. When I was reading books to them, if it were a two-humped mammal, that was a camel. If it had one hump, they knew that was a dromedary. Instead of ?snake? we used ?serpent? because that was a two-syllable word. When a doll?s head fell off and they asked for help putting it back on, they learned the word ?decapitate.? If it were a limb, they learned the word ?amputate.? It actually became a rather fun game! :) Instead of ?top of the head? they?d say ?pate.? Rather than ?back of the neck? they?d say ?nape.? I deliberately used a large vocabulary so they could become at ease with using precise language. When my brother-in-law came to dinner once, he asked one of my toddlers ?What?s this called?? (Running his finger through the moisture on the outside of the glass pitcher of ice water.) He was blown away when she correctly said, ?That?s condensation!? I wanted my children to have a large vocabulary. Their father and I are both well educated and we have a large vocabulary so I wanted that for our kids. I didn?t really think about how large it was until once a friend and her family came to stay for a weekend. She commented that she learned new words from my kids every time she came to visit. LOL It worked very well with all of my kids. Only my middle child had difficulties, but I believe it was because she already had some issues in the language center of her brain. She started talking at 3 months. By 16 months, she was speaking in complete sentences. She also had a stammer (not a stutter) that required speech therapy for a number of years. The therapist said it was probably because her physiological development couldn?t keep up with how fast her brain was working. She also had an extremely difficult time learning to read for the same reason, but she finally got over the hump at 9 years of age, and took off. None of the other kids had any issues despite having very large vocabularies. If you are interested in learning more about this one daughter?s struggle with language, you can check out my answer here: Lora Jones' answer to How did you realize that your child was gifted? I do not regret teaching my children a large vocabulary and if I had it to do over again, I would. It has only enriched their lives. Learning a large vocabulary doesn?t have to put them at a disadvantage. They?ll hear other people say ?boo-boo? and know what it means just from a working definition of it. You can also use both, which is what I did: ?You got an owie? Let?s go put a band aid on your wound.? Go for it! It?s really fun to see a 2 to 3-year old using big words correctly and can only help them when they get to school. :) EDIT: Several people have asked what is the difference between a stammer and a stutter. Technically, a stutter is where the person cannot get the sound out. If you have ever been around someone with a legitimate stutter, you will notice very quickly that they are struggling to make even a single sound. It?s almost a relief when the sound finally comes gushing out. A person who stutters generally has certain sounds they have a hard time with &/or the first sound of the sentence. A stammer is different. Everyone stammers occasionally, often when tired. That?s normal. What is not normal is the degree to which my child did it. A stammer is the repetition of a sound. It?s often the first syllable of a word. STUTTER: ?W-w-w-w-what is happening tomorrow? I w-w-w-want to purchase some new b-b-b-books at B-b-barnes & Noble.? STAMMER: ?What is hap-hap-hap-happening tomorrow? I want to pur-pur-pur-purchase some new books at Bar-Bar-Barnes & No-No-No-Noble.?