If you’ve been out of school for a while, you may have forgotten the definitions of antonym, synonym and homonym.  As children develop their vocabulary and learn to read, an understanding of those terms will be helpful.  I’ve set out the definitions for you below as well as some games that will help your child master these terms and increase and improve their vocabulary.  I often use the term game to stress the importance of making learning fun.  The games listed below are just simple ideas, modify, improve and change to keep the games fun.

 Antonym:  A word that means the opposite of another word. (night/day, happy/sad).

 Synonym:  A word that has the same or almost the same meaning as another word (small/little, big/large).

 Homonym:  A word that sounds like another word but has a different meaning and spelling (bear/bare, be/ bee).

 Quick Games:

 1. Parent says a word and the child tries to come up with all the words she can that mean the same thing. Example: good = nice, fantastic, terrific, super, kind, etc. (An example of a modification of this game, as mentioned above, might include two or more players {one or more parents} taking turns coming up with a synonym).

 2. Parent says a word and the child names its opposite.  Examples: light/dark, wet/dry, etc..

 3. Parent says a word that has more than one meaning and the child tries to provide more than one meaning.  In the case of homonyms, the game might work better if the words are written down, or even pointed out as used in a story (Remember to always modify the game to allow success and to keep it fun and interesting).