How to Improve Your Child’s Listening Skill?

Stop! Listen to me. Listening is a very important skill that the majority of the population lacks, in every conversation listening is just as important as speaking.

Not only in conversations but in acquiring knowledge too, listening is an essential trait that we must develop.

Also, note that there is a huge difference between listening and hearing, keep reading to know how to help your child to acquire this amazing skill.

• Ask your child to repeat what you have said, for example, after giving an instruction.
• Practice following instructions in the form of a game.
• Read stories – let your child predict the ending, retell the best part (make the story interactive).

• Audio stories – listen to the stories together with your child or as a family.
• Add-on stories – this can be done in a group where each person adds to the story every 4 or 5 sentences.
• Identify sounds – play or make sounds while your child’s eyes are closed, and they must try to identify them.
• Play follow the leader – play games, for example, like Simon Says.
• Copycat – play games like broken telephone, clapping a pattern or repeating silly made-up rhymes.
• Borrow audio tapes of kids’ books from the library. Let your child listen to the tapes as he follows along in the story.
• Cook with your child. Read the recipe to her, having her listen to and follow each step in order to complete the recipe correctly.
• Make up silly rhymes. The more absurd, the better. This activity will teach your child to listen for words that sound the same and to identify rhyming patterns.
• Role-play. Get out the dress-up clothes or puppets and invite your child to act out a favorite story together. Take turns performing for each other.
• Revisit an old favorite. Bring out one of your child’s most dog-eared, battered books and read it aloud yet again, only this time pause at key points to let her supply the words that come next.

Your child will-

• Stop talking.
• Prepare himself for listening.
• Focus on what is being said.
• Listen to ideas not just words.
• Wait and watch for non-verbal communication.
• Maintain eye contact wherever possible.
• Listen to the words and try to picture what the speaker is saying.