Words that Start With K- Expand Your Vocabulary

By the time you start teaching words that start with K, the child is likely to have built quite a good vocabulary already. But even so, you can’t put a cap on an expansive vocabulary, as words play such a huge part in our lives. Therefore, your child must build a vocabulary comprising many words that begin with each letter of the English alphabet.

Of course, you should only start introducing words that start with K once you’re sure that your child has mastered words starting from letters A to J. You must remember that jumping from one letter to another can be quite stressful for your child, as well as you. Most teaching figures, such as parents and teachers, do not understand the complexity of comprehensively learning 26 letters. However, doing so is a real challenge for young learners. You may not realize this as an adult, but recognizing and learning so many words can be quite a hard task for a child that has recently moved on from learning their ABCs.

Before you decide to begin teaching vocabulary words that start with K, make sure your child is prepared to take in new information. To begin with, here are a few questions to help you understand whether or not your child is ready to learn vocabulary words:

• Does your child know their ABCs in the correct order?
• Can they recognize each letter without any confusion?
• Can they write or at least trace the letters?
• Do they know the basic pronunciation of each letter of the English alphabet?

If you think your child can perform the above-mentioned tasks without struggling, it’s time that you introduce them to vocabulary words.

Interesting fact: K words only make about 0.9% of the words in the English Dictionary.

When Can You Introduce Words that Start With K?

Once they learn J words, make sure you give your child enough time before you begin teaching words that start with K. You must remember not to proceed with another letter if your child finds it overwhelming to learn vocabulary words starting with each of the 26 letters. The best way to deal with a situation when it’s too much for your child is to give them break between each letter. A break before introducing words that start with K will allow your child to process the J words they previously learned.

On the other hand, you are likely to interfere with your child’s learning ability and academic success if you try to rush the learning process. It will also slow progress if you start teaching K words not long after you teach them J words. For one, this can result in stress for you and your child, as teaching vocabulary words in a hurry is never effective at ensuring retention. Other adverse effects of being quick to jump to new letters include:

• Confusion: It is not a good idea to go back-to-back, introducing vocabulary words starting with each letter, as it can result in a lot of confusion. The child is likely to mix the words up in their minds and get confused between similar-looking and similar-sounding words if you do not give them enough break time.
• Loss of interest: You may have noticed your child losing interest in learning vocabulary words. This is mainly because too many letters keep a child’s attention, and the learning process can feel quite repetitive. This makes it important to give your child a break before you teach words that start with K so as to not bore them.

List of Words that Start With K- Preschool and Kindergarten

It is important to start with simpler and easier words before you move on to more complex words that start with K. Sure, there are only a few K words in the English language, but that does not mean you give up on learning words that start with the letter. Below is a combined list of vocabulary words for preschoolers and kindergartners.

• Kin: one’s family or relatives
• Kid: young person, baby goat
• Kick: to thrust forcefully with the foot
• Know: to be aware of
• Kind: generous and helpful person, people or things with similarities
• Keen: to be eager for something
• Keep: to hold onto or save something in your possession
• Ketchup: a sauce made out of tomato paste
• Key: a tool that is used to unlock
• Kitten: baby cat

Vocabulary Words for Elementary School Students

Elementary school students are grown-up kids who can understand meanings and usage much better. This is why schools introduce them to new concepts like verbs and adverbs. It is also the best time to begin teaching them vocabulary words to enhance their academic performance and communication skills. Below are two separate lists of words that start with K for lower elementary and upper elementary students.

Lower Elementary

• Knee: a bone joint in the center of the leg
• Knowledge: understanding or information of something
• Kidney: an organ in the body that filters the blood
• Knock: to strike on something to make a noise
• Knife: a tool with a sharp blade that is used to cut things
• Knot: a fastening or entanglement of a rope or string
• Kneel: to rest on one or both the knees
• Kindle: to light a fire, to get or make excited
• Knob: a rounded protuberance
• Knuckle: a joint of the finger

Upper Elementary

• Knack: the ability to do something, special skill or talent
• Knead: to mix by pressing, folding and stretching
• Khaki: a dull yellowish-brown color
• Kiwi: a sweet and edible tropical fruit
• Karaoke: an entertaining activity that involves singing over pre-recorded background tracks
• Karate: a Japanese martial arts activity that involves quick sharp blows with hand and feet
• Knell: the ringing sound of a bell rung for a funeral or death
• Known: familiar or recognized
• Kingdom: a state or country that is ruled by a king or queen
• Kennel: a small shelter or home for a dog

Why is it important to teach Vocabulary Words to Children?

The society and modern educational system insist on teaching vocabulary words to children from an early age. While you may already know that vocabulary words are important to introduce to children, most people do not realize why. So, what are the benefits of learning words that start with K?

Vocabulary is a crucial component to work on from the initial academic years as words play an important role in an individual’s personality development. If you start teaching from an early age, one of the first benefits is enhancing the child’s ability to read and write. It enables a child to read with understanding and form better sentences. This sets the child up for academic success.

Not only this, an extensive vocabulary is important to enhance a child’s communication and language skills. When a child knows more words, they can better convey their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. When children realize that they can correctly get their message across, it boosts confidence. Not to mention, it also encourages children to interact more often.

An enriched vocabulary helps a child convey his own thoughts and enables them to understand the opinions and thoughts of others around them. This can make your child more empathic, which can build good character. Another reason to introduce words that start with K to your child is that vocabulary words help kids perform better in their academics. They are better able to understand instructions by teachers and are likely to follow them correctly.

Words that Start With K- Practice Exercises

Exercise #1

Try to draw or act out the following words that start with K:

• Kitten
• Keep
• Kill
• Kangaroo
• Kettle
• Knock
• Kiwi
• Knife
• Kick
• Knit

Exercise #2

Interesting fact: The letter K is one of the many letters we write but do not pronounce. This suggests that the letter K is often used as a silent letter in many words. This is especially true for words that start with K. If you see the letter N following the letter K, K is likely to have no sound.

For example: knight.

Make a short list of words that start with K with a silent K letter.

Answers:

• Know
• Knowledge
• Kneel
• Knee
• Knack
• Knickers
• Knob
• Knuckle
• Knead