Vocabulary from stories, not flashcards

A new word sticks when a child hears it, says it, and needs it again while the first meeting is still warm. Flashcards can do the first meeting and then the word dies in a tin. A story does the first meeting inside a reason. The next day has to be you, using the word while packing a bag or looking at the rain.

During the story

Do not stop every sentence. Pick one word. At Meera's age, around 4, pick a thing they can point at: a colour, a coat, a tree. At Tara's age, around 6, pick a feeling or a verb: shared, waited, grumbled. At Kabir's age, around 9, ask them to explain the word as if Meera were listening. That explanation is the use.

Hey Minie lets a child ask questions about the story by voice. 'What does that mean?' is a complete question. You do not need a printed list from us. The parent section, behind the fingerprint lock, is where you can ask what new words they learned. Use it as your memory, not as their exam. There is a fuller note in vocabulary from stories.

The next day, one use

• Use the word yourself in a true sentence. Children notice a performance.
• Ask them to use it once, then drop it. Ten drills is how a word becomes hated.
• If the story was in Hindi, Telugu or Kannada, keep the word in that language. Translating immediately teaches them the English is the real one.
• If you cannot remember the word, you picked too many. One is the number.

What we will not claim

This site does not publish a vocabulary-gain figure, a grade change, or a comparison with tuition. Stories are a way to meet words. A child still needs people who talk to them. The age pages say what kinds of questions fit.