Learn American English Idioms and get your kids to practice them too!
Here are 7 ways to teach your children American idioms.
STEP 1: Set the stage with the basics.
Start with the basics. The most important thing you can do is set the stage for success. Make sure your children know the difference between words and phrases.
You can explain that some phrases mean something completely different than what they sound like. For example, “It’s raining cats and dogs” means “It’s raining a lot”, but “It’s raining cats and dogs” means “It’s raining hard”.
STEP 2: Teach them to read.
Next, teach your kids how to read. This is key, because it will help them understand when they hear these idioms used in context.
STEP 3: Use role-play to make learning fun.
Children will learn much faster if they are engaged and excited about learning. That’s why I recommend using role-play with children who are learning to read.
It’s a simple process: you get them to pretend to be someone else and ask them to repeat an idiom back to you. This forces your child to think about what the idiom means and practice repeating it correctly.
STEP 4: Make sure they understand the rules of grammar.
After learning how to read, you should also teach your kids the rules of grammar. For example, “I’m going to the store” isn’t a complete sentence. Instead, it should be broken down into two separate parts: “I” + “am going to” + “the store”.
This can help your children understand how to use these idioms correctly.
STEP 5: Start practicing with your child.
Now it’s time to start practicing with your children. You can use this opportunity to practice these idioms with your child. It’s a great way to get them to use the words and phrases correctly and it also helps them understand when they’re saying something out of context.
STEP 6: Use a visual aid.
Finally, you should use a visual aid to make learning these idioms easier for your child. This could be an image of a cat or a picture of a car.
STEP 7: Review regularly and keep it fun.
Reviewing regularly will help you build on what you’ve learned. If your children are having difficulty with a certain idiom, review it with them again.
You can also help them practice their reading skills with a simple game like I Spy.
I hope this article has been helpful.