These concepts support children’s understanding of how words work.

Understanding a word’s etymology and morphology supports understanding of how languages work and develop.

• Etymology is the study of the origin and development of words across history and contexts. For example, the word ‘conscious’ (which means being aware, awake or to have knowledge of something) comes from the Latin word ‘scire’, and means ‘knowing or aware’.
• Morphology is the study of how words are put together and how adding or changing parts of a word can change its meaning. For example, the word ‘consciousness’ can be broken down into these word parts:
  • 'sci' is the base or root word - the part of word that forms the base of a word.
  • ‘con’ is the prefix – the part of a word attached to the start of a base/root word.
  • ‘-ous' and ‘-ness’. are suffixes. The suffix is the part of a word attached to the end of a base/root word.

An awareness of synonyms and antonyms can also help us understand and use more words.

• A synonym is a word that has the same or a similar meaning to another word, such as ‘happy’ and ‘cheerful’.
• An antonym is a word that has the opposite meaning of another word, such as ‘tall – short’ or ‘hot – cold’.

By practising these activities at home, you can help your child strengthen their word consciousness

• Notice and discuss interesting words when watching television or reading a range of texts such as a newspaper or online news source. This will build a culture of awareness and interest in words and their meaning.
• Talk, talk, and talk: Talking about words helps your child with their reading and writing. If you speak another language other than Standard Australian English at home, help your child to use words in home language and compare them to English.
• Read a range of books: The more books/texts your child reads, the more words they will discover. Encouraging your child to read books that interest them (or you) will build their vocabulary and independent reading skills. Reading books together also provides opportunities to discuss and explore ideas, and practise using words.
• Look it up! Using glossaries, dictionaries, and thesauruses can support your child to build independent word solving skills. Asking your child to explain a dictionary definition in their own words, or to use the word in a sentence, will help them deepen their understanding of word meanings.
• Picture this! When looking at family photos, reading a picture book or even viewing an advertisement, use images to prompt and generate vocabulary. Ask key questions such as: What does this make you think about or wonder? What words come to mind? How does this make you feel? Have a conversation about a past happy or fun family event that may support the use of new vocabulary.