Don't "Dumb it Down"

How many times have you been surprised by a child who has demonstrated ability beyond what you expected based on his age?  

I experienced just that a number of years ago when I was driving around with my niece, age 4 at the time, and she pointed out a piece of construction equipment just off the road, and as she points she says to me "look a dig-dig...I mean, an excavator."  I have no idea where she learned the word, but she was absolutely correct.  The piece of construction equipment that she pointed to was most definitely an excavator!  

Too often, when speaking with children, we try to adjust our vocabulary to fit their age, when using adult language would actually be better to help them with their early literacy development.  In Dr. Betsy Baker's podcast "Using Categories to Teach Vocabulary to Preschoolers with Dr. Susan Neuman," Dr. Neuman tells us that explicit focus on vocabulary development early on is the foundation for early literacy development.  She goes on to encourage parents and teachers to use "interesting and unusual words."  This reminded me of a story my own mother likes to tell.  When I was in Kindergarten, she often wondered if I was learning anything in school.  I always came home talking about eating snacks and taking naps.  Well, one day I came home a bragged about how we were learning about the letter "O" in school and I proudly told my mom that I was "obstinate."  She never questioned my schooling again, and she learned the power of interesting words.   

Debbie Miller does a wonderful job of giving examples of using adult talk in her book Reading with Meaning, especially in Chapter 5: Schema.  In teaching children about schema and thinking strategies such as "text to self connections," Miller tells her students the names of the strategies just as she would an adult.  She does not dumb down a lesson, even for first graders.  In fact, one of the main points she makes when talking about modeling for children is "use precise language."  She explains "nothing says 'inferring' quite like 'inferring'" and that "what you say and how you say it becomes what [the children] say and how they say it!"  So call an excavator an excavator and enhance your children's vocabulary, it will only aid in their literacy development.