Teaching children to listen and follow instructions effectively has been a problem since the beginning of time. Here are a few tips that might help:
Be genuine.
If you want a child to listen to you when you are talking, you must model good listening skills. Look at the child who is talking and use your eyes, ears and body language to show you are listening to what she is saying, as opposed to just hearing her voice.
Play Simon Says
. Role play and model listening and following instructions. This shows a child what a skill looks like, sounds like, feels like, etc. Children must also know what it looks like, sounds like and feels like when they are not listening and following instructions.
Pump up the positives.
When your child is doing something right, make note of it. The more you sincerely praise a child for attempting to listen and follow instructions, the harder he will work in the future to earn additional approval.
Keep it short.
It is hard for a child to listen intently for longer than 5 minutes. What’s more, don’t use 60 words to explain something that can be described with six words. Likewise, don’t give too many instructions all at once. Use a step-by-step approach filled with pauses and praise.
Let him know when it is time to “actively listen.”
Fun sayings like “1, 2, 3 ? look at me!” can be helpful. Allow your child to make up his own jingle.
Julia Cook is a former teacher, school guidance counselor and award-winning children’s author.