Invented Words (And Why We Love Them)

Most children will mispronounce certain words as they’re becoming more comfortable and proficient with spoken language. Sometimes their "mistakes" sound very close to the original or correct word, with just a slight variation. At other times they’re not even in the ballpark. Babies and young children take great pleasure in experimenting with sound and cadence in language, often without even realizing what they are doing. Predictably, they believe they’ve done something very clever when they make unusual sounds (and indeed they have) because the new words can be close to the original but they’ve added some additional content to make them more personal and unique. These moments should be celebrated rather than corrected, because our young linguists are truly inventing as they go, trying words on for size as they master the art of verbal communication.

Anyone who has ever read Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, Roald Dahl, or J.K. Rowling knows there are lots of words that have been invented by authors to represent the inner workings of the stories in their minds. Most of these words connote something out of the ordinary, many don’t look or sound familiar, and they all boast unique meanings that have become part of our shared language experience. Think "Muggles," "jabberwocky," or "gobstoppers." While scholars continue to debate the volume of Shakespeare’s contributions to the English language, we do know that he effectively used many previously unfamiliar word combinations to share the comedy and tragedy of his creations, and the history of the time, with his audiences. All of this serves to show that invented language is fun and educational for the reader or listener, and can also fulfill a very specific purpose for the inventor.

Keeping a record of unique words in your child’s vocabulary can be a fun way to track language development. These inventions might also serve as a secret coded language among family members. When our children were young, we started a dictionary of the words and phrases they used experimentally at first, but which later became fully integrated as a part of the family's history. Our two-year-old grandson has started inventing some of his own special words, like "mookits" for music, and we can’t wait to see what he comes up with next. Encouraging word play in all of its forms, such as rhyming, replacing one letter at a time to come up with a new word, and silly sounds, will benefit both the children and the adults in the house, while almost always adding some lighthearted humor to the day!

Guest post by Bridget W. 

More Than Just Scissors and Glue Sticks!

Here at the Washington-Centerville Public Library, we offer numerous opportunities for artistic play. We have Family Storytimes on Saturdays throughout the month that include a storytime followed by a craft. In the winter, spring, and summer, we have themed activity centers for budding artists. And, we include art activities in a variety of children’s programming. But what do arts and crafts have to do with reading? As it turns out, they are more connected than you might think!

· Artistic play promotes language development. A whole new vocabulary of creative words is introduced through arts and crafts projects.

· Artistic play inspires narrative skill. Preschoolers can make up stories or songs that go along with their artwork. Write down their stories so they can tell them over and over again!

· Artistic play encourages critical thinking and decision making. Our little ones must decide on colors to use, ways to cut and glue, where to position the facial features, and how to solve problems that arise.

· Artistic play builds motor skills. Cutting, gluing, and coloring help build fine motor skills that are important precursors to writing.

· Artistic play forms strong hand-eye coordination. The integration of vision and motor skills is critical to the physical process of being able to turn pages and follow the words on the page.

So come and join us this spring for our Spring Break Activity Center now through April 10th and for our April Family Storytimes: “Sneaky Ninjas” on April 16th and “Hop to It” on April 23rd. It’s a lot more than just scissors and glue sticks!

Guest post by Jo C. 

Me-Time...STAT!

Babies are very cute, but they sure are needy! If you have a newborn at home, there’s a pretty high likelihood that your “me-time” has substantially diminished or even become non-existent. It’s your responsibility to make sure that your baby is fed, bathed, happy, diapered, well rested, stimulated, and kept alive. That doesn’t leave time in the day for much of anything else. This can be rather overwhelming. The thought of taking time to read a book that you want to read, one that’s not full of touch-and-feel objects or cartoon animals, is almost laughable. I, as a librarian, however, know how important it is for all of us to read, you included. Therefore, I have a little secret to share with you, one that I hope will make those long days a little shorter: While it’s true that reading to newborns is critical for the development of strong language skills, it does not matter what you read to your baby. That’s right—newborns can’t understand what you’re saying. Just hearing words and the rhythm of language is really helpful for them. So, when it’s been one of those days, grab today’s newspaper, that novel you were dying to read, or even a gossip magazine. Then, kick back with your little one and enjoy. Trust me; you’re doing yourself and your baby a favor!

Just Read!

I just recently came back across an article that I’d read last year and thought that it had some information worth sharing. It’s no surprise that books help children learn language, and it would seem logical that being read complex books would be more beneficial than hearing simpler ones. This, however, is not necessarily the case, according to a British study that monitored mothers who read both simple and complicated books to their two-year-olds. The study concluded that it really doesn’t matter what you read to your children, as long as they’re interested in it and you talk about it: “Reading a picture book with one or two words per page is just as beneficial for a pre-school child as one with long sentences. The key to success is as much talking about what happens in the book as reading any text.” Since books with simpler text tend to spark more complex parent-child conversations, they are just as helpful as more complicated books, which tend to inspire far less dialogue between parents and children. So, next time your little ones insist on picking out a book that you think looks a little too easy, go ahead and allow it. Just talking about what you’re reading can make any book a worthwhile choice!

Got Words?

 

It may seem counterintuitive to help your child learn to read using wordless books (since reading does involve words and all…). These books, however, are actually great for developing some important pre-reading skills.

Since they show a clear order of events—first, next, then, finally—wordless books can help children develop narrative skills. Plus, even without words, children are able to see how books are read from left to right and front to back, as they follow the illustrations.

In her book, The ABCs of Literacy: Preparing Our Children for Lifelong Learning, Cynthia Collins acknowledges the important role that these books play, especially in language development: “…wordless books promote language development because children experiment with finding the precise word or phrase to accurately portray the image presented. When parents read aloud these types of texts and focus on using language inventively, our children learn from our example and take their own risks with retelling the tale.”

Wordless books also promote creativity. Even though a good portion of the plot is dictated by the illustrations, there’s always room to add more information or interpret the story in a different way. In fact, this can be a great way to keep from getting bored with a book—just change the story a little bit each time you read it!

So, if you haven’t read a wordless book with your child recently, you should try one out. Check out a few of my favorite new additions to our collection of wordless books:

Hank Finds an Egg by Rebecca Dudley
Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle
The Boy and the Airplane by Mark Pett