Phrases vs vocab

I see lots of advice on learning the 100 most commonly used words of a language first... But I wonder if that is a sensible place to start. I teach my students in a sentence structure then we branch out from there for example ... I eat dinner then he she you etc eat dinner then we add vocab like i/ we/ they eat *soup* for dinner and eventually pair other phrases... I like to eat soup for dinner etc. I believe children learn naturally in this manner in the home we simplify how we speak to them and extend their vocabulary along the way. I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

We need to acquire both, some way or another, so I didn't vote.