"One, two, three, four!” chant the preschoolers at the Child Development Consortium of Los Angeles during Paul Morehouse’s weekly music session. “Once I saw a dinosaur,” responds Morehouse, an early childhood music specialist. “Five, six, seven, eight,” call the children, beating the rhythm of the words on their maracas, tambourines, and drums. “Skating on some roller skates!” exclaims Morehouse.

To the children, this game is pure fun. But Morehouse knows it’s also helping them develop their ability to use words to communicate—which experts say is critical to their future success.

Researchers have discovered that vocabulary is a major factor in the educational “achievement gap.” On average, three-year olds from professional families, for example, know 1,100 words, while those in families on welfare know 525, say researchers Betty Hart and Todd Risley. But rich language experiences can help close this gap.

Make language real

“For young children, vocabulary needs to happen in the context of involving activity. It has to be relevant,” says Long Beach City College professor Dana Van Sin-den. For example, when a child shows you a picture he drew, you can introduce new words (“I see you used watercolor to highlight the top portions.”) and encourage him to practice describing (“Tell me about that shape.”)

Claire Bainer, co-director of Blue Skies for Children in Oakland, says children develop language ability through “concrete, real experiences.” In the four-year old room, two girls pretend to be mommy and baby. As the “mommy” piles plastic fruits and vegetables on the “baby’s” high chair, she names foods the “baby” should eat.

“You can read about elephants or you can go to a zoo and see one,” says Bainer. “Children need to have the real experience to build their brain synapses so that the words they are learning have meaning.”

Talk with, not at, children

“We help children develop oral language by having adults talk with them, not at them,” says Van Sinden. “We have to really wait for them (to respond).” In her 15 years of teaching preschool, Van Sinden noticed how often adults would shush children for talking, how often adults told children what to do without expecting a response.

It’s important for adults to start listening to infants as they begin babbling, says teacher Chae Marshall, at GeoKids in Menlo Park: “It’s their attempt to communicate. Children feel heard when you show you are listening.” That encourages them to keep trying to express themselves in words.

Encourage kids to talk

During play, teachers can introduce language—and encourage children to be active communicators, Bainer adds. Recently “Jimmy” found a pill bug in the yard and called out, “I got him!” The teacher admired the bug and suggested that they put it in a cup so Jimmy could show it to the other children.

“What will you say when you show the children your bug?” the teacher asked. Jimmy was silent. “Maybe you could say, ‘I found a pill bug,’” the teacher suggested. “Do you call him a pill bug or sow bug? Some people call these bugs isopods. I wonder which name you like best?”

“Isopod,” said Jimmy seriously, and went off to introduce his bug.

Before free-play time, Patricia Ramos-Butterfield, the lead teacher in the Head Start program in Lake Elsinore Unified School District, gives the children the opportunity tell her what they plan to do.

Morehouse often asks what songs the children want to sing again. Urges Morehouse, “Ask about what they’ve remembered. When they can feed back a word that they learned in a song, they are taking ownership of it.”

Narrate and provide words

At Blue Skies, teachers of younger children do “sportscasting,” says co-director Liisa Hale—play-by-play description of what’s going on. “Now you’re giving her the ball.” But, she cautions, “Watch for the right moment—it’s annoying to have interruptions when you’re deeply involved.”

Hale also sees teachers “translate” for very young children and help them listen to each other by saying things like, “I heard her say she doesn’t want you to take that,” or “feeding” them words like, “My turn.”

Use music to make it fun—and build vocabulary

“Through music, children pay attention and learn new words,” says Ramos-Butterfield. As the children in her class—most of them English learners—sing songs over and over, “they get comfortable using new words. We sing about a kitty cat who is an acrobat. Then we talk about what an acrobat is, then look at a book with pictures, then we do movements.”

“Children who speak very little English can actually sing very accurately,” Morehouse observes. He gives the children percussion instruments or has them clap along. It’s fun, and they learn the “rhythm of language”—syllables, sounds, and accents. He sticks with songs that have obvious patterns, which delight the children—and reinforce learning.

For young children, play is essential

Under pressure to meet increasing academic standards, many early childhood educators are cutting time for play. But “play is essential to . . .the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth,” said the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2007. “Play is important to healthy brain development.”

“A number of studies show the links between play and many foundational skills and complex cognitive activities such as memory, self-regulation, oral language abilities, successful school adjustment . . .better social skills. . .and literacy skills,” wrote researchers Elena Bodrova and Deborah J. Leong (http://pdonline.ascd.org/pd_online/substitute/el200304_bodrova.html).

And, warns UC Davis professor Ross A. Thompson, “If we create environments for young children . . . like those for older children, we end up with young children who are frustrated, who lose interest in learning, and who are more stressed.”

This article is the first in a year-long series on ways to help young children learn using their natural method: play.

Resources

• Play at the Center of the Curriculum, Van Hoorn, Nourot, Scales, and Alward, Merril/Prentice Hall 2007
• Play in the Early Years, Bay Area Early Childhood Funders, http://www.4children.org/resources/reports.html
• The Role of Pretend Play in Children’s Cognitive Development, Doris Bergen, http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v4n1/bergen.html 
• Telling Stories with Blocks: Encouraging Language in the Block Center, Janie Heisner, http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v7n2/heisner.html 
• Appreciating Diversity through Children’s Stories and Language Development, Susan Thompson, http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v10n1/thompson.html 
• Implementing a Musical Program to Promote Preschool Children’s Vocabulary Development, Galicia, Contreras & Peña, http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v8n1/galicia.html

Extra resources from the Children’s Advocate bulletin

• Building Language and Literacy Through Play, from Scholastic, offers tips for early care and education teachers and providers to help children strengthen oral language skills through play.
  
  
• A Child's Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play describes how fantasy play allows children to make decisions about the world around them and interacting with others. $11. By Vivian Paley, available from University of Chicago Press, (773) 702-7700
  
  
• Restoring Play, from the Alliance for Childhood, is a campaign to restore play and hands-on learning in preschool and kindergarten. Includes tips and resources.
  
  
• Let's Play, from the Spring 2008 issue of Greater Good Magazine, offers articles about how play is essential to healthy child development.

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