Week 1: Read the blog post. Make eye contact when you talk to your child(ren). Try to “catch” your child being good and compliment them, sing a silly song about it, or cheer for them. Try to do this 2-3 times each day this week!!

Week 2: Make eye contact when you talk to your child(ren). Try to make physical contact when you talk to your child this week (hold their hands, talk to them while they are on your lap, touch their face, etc).

Week 3: Make eye contact. Try to incorporate physical touch. Take a few minutes and intentionally focus your attention on your child (easiest for us to do while tucking them in bed). No TV or cell phones or other people, focused attention on your child!

Week 4: Combine previous weeks and ask your child open ended questions (question that require more than a one word response) and actively listen!  (Ask about their day, read a book and ask about their favorite part in the book, ask them what they think they will do tomorrow, etc.)

Blog Post

I know this is a simple thing and many of us think that we do this, but do we really?

Experience

My experience as a teacher (and recently speaking to current teachers) has revealed that children lack good communication skills. They don’t know about give and take during a conversation. They don’t know that listening is a vital skill of communicating and conversing.

Read the rest of my guest post on I Can Teach My Child!

Here is another useful blog post.

A great book resource here.

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