Rare Words Are Key for Child’s Success in Reading
What are rare words, where can you find them, and why do they matter?
Rare words are those beyond the 10,000 words known as our Common Lexicon used in most daily conversation with each other.
You can find a great many rare words in children’s books. Children’s books have 30 rare words per thousand, while conversations between an adult and 3-year-old child typically include 9 rare words per thousand (JimTrelease: The Read-Aloud Handbook.)
Quality children’s picture books are filled with rare words. Consider Byron Barton’s I Want to Be an Astronaut, a picture book for toddlers and preschoolers. It includes words like shuttle, mission, and gravity. These are words you might not use in everyday conversation with your young child. When you read this book aloud, you introduce him to these words, and they become part of his growing vocabulary.
Why is this important? Studies show that a child’s vocabulary upon entering school is the number one indicator of whether he will be a good reader. Trelease reminds us that by the time a child is 5-years-old, he will know 90% of the words he will use for the rest of his life. The eventual strength of your child’s vocabulary depends on how many of these rare words he knows. And the child who has heard thousands of picture books before he reaches school will have a larger vocabulary than the child that experiences very few books during his early years.
There are thousands of vocabulary-rich books for young children. Check out the below sampling, but know it is the tip of an enormous iceberg. Visit the library often, attend storytime, and let us help your child develop a rich vocabulary through picture books.
Amazon Says: Blast-off! Up into the shy goes the space shuttle. Into orbit, the astronauts get a taste of ready-to-eat food, experience zero gravity, go for space walks, and even fix a s...
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Amazon Says: A New York Times and million copy bestseller, the classic handbook on reading aloud to children—revised and updated Recommended by “Dear Abby”, The New...
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Amazon Says: The bay owls came out of their house, and they sat on the tree and waited. A big branch for Sarah, a small branch for Percy, and an old piece of ivy for Bill. When three baby...
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Amazon Says: Bruno Munari was an internationally acclaimed artist, designer, and children's book creator. Acontemporary of Leo Leonni, his books have been hailed as "among the most origina...
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Large, brilliant portraits introduce young children to the animals found on a farm, from two friendly ducks to an adoring ewe and her rowdy lamb.Amazon
Amazon Says: A polar bear cub explores her artic world and finds something new--a friend. Companion to New York Times Best Illustratedbook /New York Times bestselling book. On a chill, b...
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Amazon Says: A true classic with a timeless message, The Story of Ferdinand has enchanted readers since it was first published in 1936. All the other bulls would run and jump ...
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Amazon Says: In powerful words and vibrant illustrations, Donald Crews evokes the essence of inexorably rolling wheels, so that even a child not lucky enough to have counted freight cars w...
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Amazon Says: After meeting a bevy of baby animals— including a clever monkey, a sleepy leopard, and a dusty lion cub—the baby in this story discovers the most precious creature of all ...
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