ENHANCING COMMUNICATION

The secret to gaining attention is effective communication.

Developing the Communication Skills of the young and budding talents not only boosts confidence but also helps taking overall personality of the future literary experts, a notch higher!

1. Develop their Listening Skills- As per various, researches young children need a quieter environment than adults to listen and learn, so even if it does not seem noisy to you, it may be for your child.

Have times during the day when there is no background noise, and always do this when engaging in a specific activity with your child (playing a word game or reading a story to them). This doesn’t mean that your television and gadgets should be switched off forever but for children to listen and learn from television and electronic gadgets, parents need to view it alongside them to spark conversation.

2. Art of Commenting rather than asking too many questions- Research shows that frequent parental use of directive and corrective statements – for example, questions and command giving – has been linked with delays in children's language development.

So, it’s better to open up a chat with a comment, such as: ‘Look, it’s a dog!’ as opposed to asking, ‘What’s that animal called?’

3. Ask open-ended questions- Art of commenting doesn’t mean that asking questions should be avoided completely. Use open ended questions rather than asking closed questions.

Start with ‘What could we do?’, ‘Can you find a way to?’ – has shown they can support learning and develop creative thinking and problem-solving skills. Asking closed question/one word answer questions doesn’t serve this purpose.

4. Give your kids some time to answer a question- At times children need extra time to understand a question and think of the answer. So, instead of jumping in to help them, repeat the question and count to 10, then wait to see if your child answers. I bet; you will be surprised by the results. If they are unable to answer at all, then you can tell them the answer.

5. Enhance their Vocabulary- Introduce fun word games to build their vocabulary. When talking or reading with your child, talk about word meaning and sounds. This helps them to learn and recall words. For example, ask about: a word’s first sounds; rhyming words; syllable number; what you do with the word; where you find it; what it looks, feels or tastes like; what group (category) it belongs to and what else belongs to this group.