Page 123 - Routines-Based Early Intervention Guidebook

Routines-Based Early Intervention Guidebook

Teaching Labeling Skills 9.4

When we think about a child’s vocabulary, we are in large part describing a child’s

success at remembering and naming objects. These names (labels) that we put on an object

are arbitrary. For instance, there is no reason why the sounds D+U+K couldn’t mean table, or
house, rather than an animal that says, “Quack!” Certainly, in other languages D+U+K does not

mean duck. We have simply all agreed to label objects in a certain way to make

communica on and understanding possible. This is why learning new vocabulary for some
children is difficult. There is no exact reason why an object has the name it has, so we have to

increase our knowledge about the object and use high repe on in order to remember what it

is called.

Successful ac vi es that increase a child’s labeling skills are packed with examples and

repe on, but not demands. For example, when a child points to an orange to express that he
wants it, we can say, “Oh, orange. You want the orange.” I o en hear parents say, “Say

orange,” and even say, “You can have it a er you say orange.” We want language learning to

be fun, and one thing we know is that children will say the words when they are ready to do
so. It can be a great source of frustra on for a child who wants an orange to have the orange

withheld because he cannot say that word yet. Such frustra on can lead to a diminished

desire to communicate. Remember to applaud your child’s communica on even if it is

nonverbal or unclear, and to help with their language growth by labeling the objects and

ac ons in your child’s environment. You might feel like you sound like a broken record at
mes but remember that the more your child hears words, the sooner he will learn them, and

the sooner he we say them.

As educators and parents, we do a pre y good job at teaching new vocabulary.
However, there are few unique strategies that can enhance the growth of labeling skills for

children at any level.

Labeling Ac vi es and Ideas

1. Role Play – Books, movies, and toys give us to opportunity to act as characters,

change our name, and interact with a variety of imaginary objects that aren’t

normally in our environment. For example, playing pirate gives you access to all

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