What Your Hands Do During Read-Alouds May Shape Your Child's Vocabulary
Researchers observed 33 Head Start classrooms and coded the gestures teachers made while reading picture books to 306 four-year-olds. Classrooms where teachers used more meaning-focused gestures — like spreading their arms wide on “huge” — had children with higher end-of-year receptive vocabulary. The hand may open a second channel for kids who can’t yet catch every word.