Increase a 7/8 Years Old Vocabulary

read with them every night after dinner or at bed time for 30 mins to an hr . Start small with simple books and go up from there. If you don't know what a word means keep a dictionary by you and look it up together.

I agree with reading to them every day. You can read a book that's a bit higher level than he would read on his own. If you read a sentence that has a word he might not understand, pause and ask him if he knows what it means, and than practice with it.

"'She ran swiftly from the house.' Doe you know what 'swiftly' means?"
"No."
"It means fast or quickly. Like this, 'When Donny heard there was ice cream for dessert, he swiftly finished his vegetables.' Can you think of one?"

Have him come up with a sentence if he's game, but don't force it. Make it fun. Then continue the story.

You can also ask comprehension questions along the way, and explain what's going on. "Why do you think she was mad?"

My 7 year old has improved her vocabulary greatly with Nancy Drew stories every night.

I just spent about 10 minutes writing a very long response to have myself accidentally erase it...grrr...so I'm going to try a shorter version.

First, I would ignore any advice you got to take your child to a doctor over this. This isn't an illness that needs to be evaluated, but a simple setback that just needs some extra time and attention.

I am homeschooling my second grader through an online program and in her literature class, they focus a LOT on reading comprehension. My daughter is an advanced reader, and very fluent, has a large vocabulary...yet she was struggling with properly answering the "reading comprehension" questions because she didn't have a good understand of what the questions really meant and how to apply them. Not that she didn't understand the story! This is probably the case with your son.

When he brings a book home for school (or go to the library and get some), after each few pages, stop to ask things like...

Who have we met here?
What has just happened?
What has this character just done?
What do you think will happen next?
Why do you think the author had this happen?

etc...and more specific questions based on the book.

Now, for reading comprehension they may be asking simple questions such as "Who are the characters? What is the setting?" But if he doesn't really understand what characters or settings mean, he won't be able to answer properly. Make sure he understands the terminology.

They MAY be asking questions as pragmatic as "What is the main idea here? What is the MORAL of this story? What are the actions and consequences? What is the conflict in this paragraph, and how is it resolved?" My daughter was really struggling with questions like that, so we spent a LOT of time giving examples and really working on what those questions MEANT...and then she could apply them to her stories. Questions like that require abstract thinking, and that takes practice to develop.

I'm not sure what you mean by his grammar being all over the place when he writes. If he needs to work on his grammar, that should be apparent in the way he talks. Your grammar sounds pretty good, but this is something his teacher can help him with. Maybe she can send home extra worksheets.

As far as vocabulary goes...read read read! ANd when he doesn't know a word, tell him to ask someone what it means!

You had some helpful ideas but here's my two cents! I teach second grade and those children are 7 turning 8 - so right about the age you are asking.
When children first learn to read, they are working on sounds, words, etc. Then they reach a certain point where they are "Reading to Learn". They are now working on understanding what they have read (comprehension). This sounds exactly like where your child is. Welcome to the Club! What he is doing is VERY normal and nothing you need to see a Dr. about.
Boys especially have a hard time finding books they are interested in. A lot of times the ones they do find are a little advanced for them. There is nothing wrong with that though.
My suggestion to parents is 1. Choose a book that is a higher level and read it with them. You can use this as an opportunity to expand vocabulary and discuss the comprehension questions. Take turns reading the pages. When it is your turn to read, make a point to find a word you don't know and use it as a chance to model looking it up in the dictionary. When they see that you don't know all the words, it usually makes them feel better. Make a game of it - write new words down in a journal (simple spiral notebook). Then look them up as you go.
2. Let him choose a book closer to his level and give him a journal for his reading. Let him write down words that he comes across that he doesn't know. A lot of times, kids don't understand that it is ok NOT to know a word and ask for help. If they have been told "You're such a good reader", then they can feel they need to know all these words and by asking for help that must mean they aren't a good reader anymore. As adults we just have to model for them that sometimes everyone comes across a word they don't know and that is just called learning.

I would also make sure he understands the story elements - Characters = who or what the story is mostly about, Setting = Where the story happens, Plot = What happens in the story, Main Idea = What the story is mostly about. Repetition is a key until kids get the hang of the story. I have been teaching main idea since the first week of school in August & I still have students who have to stop & think about what it means!

As for writing - make it fun! 1. Give him a chance to write down a grocery or shopping list. 2. Have him make a list of what he does each day. 3. Write short journal entries about things he likes. 4. Keep a journal where you write back & forth to each other about his school day - maybe pick a day once a week so you don't overdo it. Be careful about making too many corrections as this will only cause him to NOT want to write. Instead, have him read aloud what he has written to you and stop him at times to ask if it "sounds right?" When he recognizes that it sounds different, then discuss the proper way to fix it.

Not sure of California school standards, but if your son is in second grade he is working on the skills he should be. If he is in third, then there might be concern that he is struggling a little. Still no need for a Dr. visit, just LOTS OF PRACTICE! :)

Best of luck!

To increase vocabulary, read to them EVERY DAY for 20-30 mins.

To increase their comprehension, read a setence or 2 and then ask a question about what you just read. That's ok if they don't get it right. Just tell them you'll be asking a question from the next 1 or 2 sentences so they have to pay attention.

To increase their reading skills, have them read early reader books out loud. Start with 5 mins a day for a week or two, then 10 mins a day the next week, then 15 mins a day the following week.

To increase their interest in books, don't let them watch TV until you have read to them and they have read for their allotted time that day. Don't read in front of the TV and make sure all distractions are turned off, like the TV, radio or games or toys.

Having them read is good but it also helps to spend time every day reading to them.
We always worked story time into bedtime.
We'd go to bed 30 min early so we could read a chapter then be settled in for the night.
We also made a habit of reading like this when ever we had to wait for anything even if it were only for 10 min (we carry a book with us everywhere we go).
Read books to them that play up their interests.
If they like stories about fire trucks, dinosaurs, pirates, wizards, dragons - what ever - find books about them and read them out loud to them.
It will help your language skills as well.
Your local library is a good resource.

Getting story games will help you. Find an educational store and check out their games. Have fun with stories with him. Beginning, middle and end.

When you read a story to him, stop after a few paragraphs and talk about the story. Ask him what he thinks of "x" or what he thinks about this and that character. That makes him think about the story. When HE is reading a story to YOU, stop and ask him the same things. Does he understand the storyline better when you read TO him than when he reads to himself? If he does, talk to the school about it. Tell them what you are noticing when you work with him. Ask for him to have remedial reading help at school. IS there an ESL program? Perhaps an ESL pullout would help him.

A willingness to write comes before worrying about grammar. Make it fun for him to write. Then work on the grammar. You need help from an English speaker - maybe a high school student? (Most boys your son's age would be happy to work with a cute high school girl!) You could pay her as a "mother's helper". Make sure she is nice to him, upbeat and positive.

Good luck!
Dawn

There are some on liine places like Wordlywize.com that he can use to help strengthen his word usage. Reading is important though when you make it a chore they tend to start to hate it. Do you still read to him before bed? How about read it together you and him. Page each?

The books he is reading are too difficult. When a student can read every word but can't tell me anything about the story, it is a comprehension issue and I bring their reading level down some. The plot may be too advanced. To help with comprehension, talk to him about what he has read after a few pages. Ask him questions about the stories such as, Who is the main character? How are you like or different from that character? What was the problem and how was it solved? What do you predict will happen next? Etc. Read to him and discuss the story as you read. Discuss the vocabulary. If you model how to talk about the story, it will help him.
There are lots of resources online, too. Here us a good article with ideas for helping him.

http://www.scholastic.com/resources/article/reading-compr...

My kids have outstanding vocabularies and I attribute this to always using the words I would use with educated adults with them. From infancy on I have never 'dumbed down' anything. This may be a bit harder for you though because of your English. What I would do is to make sure that your school is giving them vocabulary words. This is extremely important and sadly not prioritized anymore in most curriculums. If they do not then I would make my own vocabulary list for the kids. Have them look up the word, use it in a sentence. If you really want to help them you will define the stem in the word and then make them find words that are similiar. When you know the latin root of a word you can make a better guess at words you have never heard-this is esp helpful for the SATs.
HEre is a link to a phenomenal program that my son's teachers use. I highly suggest buying it and using it with your kids/.
http://www.rfwp.com/series/vocabulary-elementary-program-...

ETA: I agree with the rest of the posters that reading is important but I want to stress again that vocabulary words are key. Much of what passes for literature for kids today does not use the words that build vocabulary. Part of my son's enrichment program is to go through his book and pull out words to define. Often he cannot find one word that would qualify as a 'challenge' word. Getting away from the old-school approach of vocabulary words has been the undoing of our kids in my opinion.

Reading is important, but so is conversation. Talk to your child with words that he or she may not know. They will ask what the word means, and then you tell him or her.

I cannot imagine doing this in my second language (I don't have one). Kudos to you.

Work on your vocabulary, and it will flow to your child. There isn't any person who could use a build up of one's vocabulary. Read and look up words. Read stories and non-fiction and look up words you are unfamiliar with.

Read aloud to your child items that interest you both. Let your child see you look up the words as you read together. Build. Build Build.

Work to find the most precise way to explain any situation. Use daily life and daily surroundings for the descriptions.

Write poetry. Writing poetry forces people to select words carefully.

Find a list of adjectives for of personality traits and describe yourselves and others. Build the vocabulary that way.

Find a way to listen to a parent read or talk to the child who uses these tactics as an example. That may be hard to find, but it may also be the most enlightening method of all of this advice.

Best wishes.

Stop using your native language when talking to him.

I am a third grade teacher and the best thing for you to do at home is READ. Have him read to you out loud it will help improve his skills. By what you said it also sounds like he needs to improve his comprehension as well. The best way to do this is have him read to you and ask him questions about the story examples: who did what? Where did that happen? What is the problem? How did they solve the problem? What would you do the same or different as the character? Why did they do that? Also have him ask you questions? Have a dictionary handy, they are inexpensive or ask the teacher for one. If a word is new look it up and then discuss what it means, have him try to act it out to better understand the word or draw a picture for the word. Hope this helps, juts keep READING!
You can also ask these questions about what they watch on TV, not saying to watch more but build his question and answer skills.

My dd does the Kumon program - reading and math. The "reading" is really language arts. They learn vocabulary, spelling, parts of a sentence, nouns, verbs, etc. Its a lot of work, but it really works. My dd is way ahead of her classmates. She is 9 and in 4th grade.

Dictionary mine had one since Kindergarten & goes thru it frequently.Also doing A Word A Day & meaning will increase vocabulary,when summer comes do several Words A Day,you can alos have him practice writin the new word/words & recite the meaning

His standardized test scores should give you an indication of his reading level. Then research books that fall within that range or talk to your local librarian about suggestions. Have a family challenge of a new vocabulary word each day. It can help everyone in the family build their vocabulary. See how many times you can catch each other using the word in a conversation that day. Also find a book that you are comfortable reading aloud to him and instead of TV during the week, read to him. The Guardians of Ga'Hoole is a great read a loud series that is enjoyable for adults and kids.

My GD also read "words" not sentences so nothing made any sense to her. I had her listen while I read aloud with inflection and showed her how to pause at a comma and how to come to the end of a sentence. Once she started reading sentences AS SENTENCES and not just a string of words, her comprehension really improved. Since English is not your first language, maybe they could go to story time at the library to listen.

As for increasing their vocabulary, you could get a dictionary and have the pick out say 3 words per night. Write the word, and use it in a sentence.

So it's his reading comprehension that is having issues?

That sounds like a cognitive issue that perhaps the pediatrician or a psychologist that does cognitive testing could assess and figure out a way of getting this to work better.

My parents never read to me or bought me books. But I was reading on a level at least 4 grades above my age and I understood them.

I remember in 1st grade going to to bookmobile and checking out books. I went straight to the 4th and 5th grade books. The lady told me I wasn't smart enough for those books and to go to the other shelf. I took down a book and started reading it to her. Then I told her what it meant. She let me check out any books I wanted after that.

So this issue may simply be a brain thing that hasn't clicked on yet. That's why I think this may be something that either the school psychologist or the pediatrician might need to assess this.

My other thought is that TV and movies are a way for the kids to hear English and understand the story's to help with comprehension.

If you want to limit that though they won't be exposed to the language.

Reading to him is great. Make sure as you read that you go over any words he might not know. Ask him if he knows what they mean and explain them if they don't. Then, ask him to repeat the explanation or, using his own words, tell you about it.

Playing word games is also fun and little kids enjoy it (they don't realize how much they learn).

You can do rhyming games - go back and forth thinking of words that rhyme (cat, hat, mat, bat, etc). When you run out, move on to a new letter.

You can also think of words that all start with the same letter. Choose one and go back and forth thinking of as many words as you can.