Vocabulary Roots! Prefixes and Suffixes

When a child enters mid - late elementary, vocabulary becomes much more complex. And, though it is definitely helpful to do the usual tips of reading more, highlighting words, and looking at vocabulary lists, it also helps for a child to have an idea of clues within a word that can give away it's meaning.

In particular, being able to identify the prefix, the root, and the suffix of a word is a very useful skill to decipher the meaning of the word.

One of the easiest ways to work on this skill is to review common prefixes, and common suffixes, and practice distinguishing them from the root words they supplement.

Keep an eye out whenever you are reading - whether it's a sign, an ingredient list, in a magazine or a book. Then, show your child how to break down the word!

For example - if you see "incomplete" - show your child how to break that into "in" and "complete" - "that means the opposite of complete, because of 'in.'" Or, if you see "preschool" on a sign - "pre means before, so preschool is where we go before school!"

You can start with just modeling, and once your child is comfortable and familiar, then you can start asking them to guess the meaning of the word.

Finally, if you really are a worksheet person, check out these TPT worksheets by Smarter Speech on prefixes and suffixes for a change in routine.

Happy talking!

Disclaimer : Smarter Speech is a pediatric speech therapy / speech-language pathology practice for toddlers and children providing in-home and teletherapy services in and around Mountain View, CA and Los Gatos, CA. Smarter Speech Blog aims to provide free speech and language tips for parents educators and therapists. However, this post is not providing speech-language pathology services. This is general information, not speech -language pathology or speech therapy. This article does not assume or create a client – SLP relationship. The author is not liable for any losses or damages due to actions or failure to act based on the content in this article. If you need assistance with a child’s speech or language needs, please contact a speech-language pathologist in your area.