Psychometrician Johnson O’Connor studies factors leading to career achievement. His studies cover a wide range of areas, including age and level of education. Every time he analyzed the data, he got the same results: the better a person’s vocabulary, the better correlation with success.
Scientists think that that a bigger vocabulary is connected to the ability to think in more complex ways. O’Connor suggests four ways to increase your vocabulary:
- Be aware of words
- Read
- Use a dictionary (circle the words and make a note of them)
- Study and review regularly
If you’re looking for a fun summer activity to do with your kids, consider the Word a Day project. Each morning pick a word that is unfamiliar to your children. Look it up in the dictionary, discuss or act out its meaning, draw a picture or symbol to help remember it, and then try to use it several times throughout the day. Post the new words on index cards. Try to use them in a story or poem. By the end of the summer, your children will be at least 60 steps–or words– closer to success.
by Marcia Chamberlain, Writers in the Schools