Understanding Idioms

One could argue that idioms falls under the umbrella of the three R’s, but in reality, idioms are generally taught—if at all—only haphazardly in regular curriculum.

Yet understanding idioms is so important. And it’s not because our children need to be taught how to use idioms in their daily speech; idioms are in such great use by society in general that the ability to understand idioms is essential to being able to comprehend the meaning of what is being communicated.

So, how do you teach idioms?

Obviously, if you’re “on your toes” throughout your homeschooling day, you can just explain idioms as they appear in daily speech, on television, or in books. But if you’d like a more formal approach, I’ve listed a few resources and activities below that you might like to “try on for size.”

Suggested Resources and Activities

• Find a resource for idioms:
  • Pick up Scholastic’s Dictionary of Idioms by Marvin Terban, a great little text that is written on a kid’s level. It explains more than 600 phrases, sayings, and expressions, the vast majority of which are in everyday usage, not obsolete idioms. This book does a really good job explaining the meaning as well as the origin of each idiom.
  • Look through idiom resources on the web. The following sites have idiom lists that are browsable:
    • The Idiom Site
    • Idiom Idiot
    • Using English
• Choose which idioms you want to study throughout the school year, and then introduce them to your kids on a regular basis.
  • When you introduce a new idiom, encourage your kids to use that idiom sometime throughout the day/week/month.
  • You could even make a game of it and award a “prize” to the first person to appropriately use the idiom in their speech.
• Utilize these interactive sites, which have idiom games and learning activities that your kids can do on their own.
  • FunBrain
  • Eye on Idioms
  • Quiz Tree

Cartoon by Andertoons