Vocabulary Homework Help: Tips to Help Students Study Vocab Words

Helping Your Child with Vocabulary Homework

What to Expect from Vocabulary Homework

It's likely that your child studies for vocabulary tests by completing relevant vocabulary homework assignments. These assignments are designed to help your child practice new words in a meaningful way. Once your child has looked up vocabulary words and understands their meanings, he or she will probably be able to complete the assignments. This will help solidify the meaning and spelling of new words in your child's brain.

A common way for kids to remember the meaning of vocabulary words is for them to practice words in context. For this reason, your child may also have fill-in-the-blank worksheets to complete. In this kind of assignment, there are sentences with the vocabulary words missing and a word bank from which your child will pick the answers.

As your child progresses, assignments will typically become more complex. One type of assignment your child may encounter is simply a list of words he or she will be required to use in sentences. In the beginning, you might consider sitting with your child and helping her or him write sentences using the required words.

Activities at Home

There are a great number of vocabulary-building activities your child can do at home that will also help him or her with homework assignments. Go over your child's homework and write the new vocabulary words on flashcards. There are websites you can use to create printable flashcards, as well. Use the flashcards to teach your child the words before he or she sits down to do homework.

Another way that you can help your child is by teaching him or her to use context clues. Context clues are the words around a new word that give clues to what the new word means. Have your child identify what a new vocabulary word means by placing it in a helpful sentence.

Helpful Vocabulary Resources for Your Child

There are many useful resources in place to help your child with his or her vocabulary homework. If your child's struggling, consider taking him or her to a learning center or hiring a private, one-on-one vocabulary tutor. For help with individual homework assignments, there are online tutors who can assist your child via e-mail, instant messaging and Web cam. There are also a number of websites dedicated exclusively to homework help.