I have not been able to add much to the blog; please bear with me. I'm working a double shift these days, so I'm home about three hours a day. I've been spending a lot of time at school and really loving it. The kids have been a bit squirrelly this week because of the weather fronts coming in, but all in all it's been a great week.
Because I don't teach a morning class, I don't have individual contact with each child. One of the things I've noticed is how many of the little ones don't listen. Listening is the most important thing that we can teach a child, and children who don't listen are children who are very far behind both in development and broader knowledge of the world.
Getting children to listen is not that hard, but it has to begin at home. It begins with parents who read to children and who eat dinner with them with the TV and radio off.
"He won't let us..." is often the common complaint. Reading takes time. It's a time that needs to come into every child's life once or twice a day at least. Even if the few minutes you choose to read to your child is spent talking to him and having him listen to YOU is the only thing you accomplish at first it's time well spent.
Find a book with pictures and point out certain things, and have your child point out other things. This is an excellent beginning. Then when he or she is comfortable sitting with you, begin to read. It might not last more than a couple of pages, but within a few weeks, he or she will look forward to this special time and begin to listen, which means trust, and enjoy it.
Children hear all day long a myriad of things, but listening means taking it in and learning from it. Listening is a learned skill, and it means the difference between understanding and not.
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