The words a child uses, or their vocabulary, will speak volumes on how well educated or clever, we think they are.  Developing vocabulary is rather like filling the fridge with a wide variety of food to eat. A full fridge gives us choices on what to eat and what foods we can combine. A good vocabulary gives us choices in how to describe the world around us, our feelings and ideas; it allows us to make finer distinctions between things so that we can say exactly what we mean. Children who read a lot can develop a good vocabulary, but they also need some extra help from time to time. To assist with this we have just made a start to an exciting new category on Vocabulary development. Alternatives for overused words such as ‘nice’ or ‘big’ have been given, but it is important that children look up these words to find the finer meaning of them and in what context they can be used. There should also be a lot of discussion of when it is appropriate to use a particular word. Go to Vocabulary development worksheets