One of the most critical vocabulary elements to “nail down” when learning American English (or any culture’s language) is the use of idioms.
An idiom, as defined by dictionary.com, is a group of words whose meaning cannot be predicted from the meanings of the constituent words, as for example “It was raining cats and dogs”.
Being able to both understand and use idioms successfully also makes the art of language more playful…and fun for kids. Key into one of your child’s favorite pastimes and look at the idioms that have one meaning in the pastime…and a different one entirely in every day language.
Have a field day with sports idioms
See which music idioms ring a bell
Shed light on nature idioms
Or try to bat a thousand with math idioms
We’re willing to bet your kids will begin to think that idioms are some of the best things since sliced bread in the English language.