• What listening readiness skills should my child have when entering Kindergarten?

    Children entering kindergarten should be able to:

    • Engage in conversations with peers and adults
    • Take multiple turns in a conversation
    • Wait to speak until another person has finished speaking                             
    • Begin to speak audibly and clearly
    • Begin to share thoughts and feelings
    • Follow two step directions

    I need you to go get your shoes. I need you to put on your coat.

    • Repeat two step directions

    I need to go get my shoes. I need to put on my coat.

     

    Child Understanding

  • Why is listening so important?

    Listening is not the same as hearing. Hearing is a physical process. Listening is a learned behavior. It includes hearing as well as understanding a message. Listening is storing and retrieving information.

     

    How can I help my child be a good listener?

    Child Listening to Parent

    Model good listening to your child by:

    • Looking directly at your child when he/she is talking.
    • Match your child’s size by bending or kneeling down to look your child in the eye.
    • Remove distractions such as phones or TV when listening to your child.
    • Spend as much time listening to your child as you do talking to your child.
    • Listen patiently. Young children often take longer to be able to express themselves. Be careful not to cut them off.
    • Repeat what your child has said to you. This demonstrates you value your child’s conversational skills.
    • React to what your child says. Respond to a statement by asking a question for your child to answer.

     

    As you model good listening skills to your child, have your child:

    • Look at you as you are speaking
    • Wait until you are finished talking before speaking
    • When talking to someone else, have your child wait to talk to you until your conversation is finished
    • Answer a listening question:

    You: "What is the first thing I asked you to do?"

    Child: "You asked me to go get my shoes."

    You: "Yes, I asked you to go get your shoes."

     

    Listening activities  for you and your child

    • Go for a walk and talk about the sounds you hear
    • Play rhyming games with family names - for example Sophie, Bophie, Tophie. Have your child repeat the three names.
    • Make up silly rhyming phrases for your child to repeat:  Baa Baa Black Sheep, Taa Taa Plack Theep.
    • Play with walkie talkies while having a conversation
    • Listen to an audio story
    • Watch a story read on youtube, then discuss the story.
    • Have your child call a family member and have a conversation over the phone. Having your child do audio calls helps them to learn to focus on what they are hearing.