Teaching children to listen

If children are having difficulty following your instructions, then Jacqui Woodcock and Liz Spooner have some tips on how to improve their l

WHEN TALKING TO THE CLASS, I OFTEN FEEL AS THOUGH NOT EVERY CHILD ‘GETS’ WHAT I AM ASKING THEM TO DO. HOW CAN I MODIFY THE WAY I COMMUNICATE WITH CHILDREN SO THEY ARE ABLE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM TELLING THEM?

Modifying the language we use when talking to children is one of the simplest (and cheapest) adaptations we can make to improve their listening. These are our key tips to think about when giving instructions:

Keep it simple

Children are more likely to listen to an instruction or information if it is short and easy to understand. Eliminating unnecessary language, especially at the beginning of an instruction, will help to keep children focused until you have finished speaking.

Tell, don’t ask

We often phrase instructions as questions when we work with children, e.g. “Can you point to the picture for me?” This creates two problems. First, children have to listen to more words. Second, it implies that the child can say “no”, which is obviously not the case. This is also confusing for children with social communication difficulties who may interpret the question as an enquiry about their ability to carry out a task.

Avoid “before” and “after”

These are two of the most confusing concepts in English because they change the order of an instruction without changing the order of the words. For example, “We’re having a snack after we finish maths” – children who struggle with “before” and “after” will think the snack is first. Our advice is to avoid “before” and “after” and use “first” and “next” instead.
EVERY YEAR, MORE AND MORE CHILDREN SEEM TO COME INTO MY CLASS WHO HAVEN’T LEARNT TO STAY QUIET WHEN OTHER PEOPLE ARE TALKING. WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?

This is a skill children should develop very early in life. Babies who babble learn to stop and wait for an adult to respond. Children at school age who don’t understand they need to be quiet when others are talking may need help to learn this skill and realise why it’s important. Children who find it hard to stay quiet fall into two categories:

Children who interrupt with irrelevant information.

These children are often keen to tell you an exciting piece of news that has no relevance to the lesson you are trying to teach, e.g. “It’s my birthday tomorrow!”.

Children who shout out the answer.

These children are often enthused by the lesson but cannot wait to be chosen to answer. This is a problem for two reasons: first, they haven’t learnt the social skill of waiting for their turn; second, they disrupt the thinking of other children who would have got to the answer but needed more time to respond.

If these situations sound familiar, try these strategies:

• Refuse to compete – don’t start an activity until children are quiet, but explain why. A useful phrase is, “I really want to show you what we are going to do, but I can’t because you are talking. When everyone is quiet, I’ll be able to tell you”.
• Use a ‘Let’s talk later’ board. Children who interrupt with irrelevant information often find it hard to attend to what you are saying until you acknowledge what they are trying to tell you. Help them to move on by explicitly saying, “We aren’t talking about your new shoes now, but I’m going to put your name on the ‘let’s talk later’ board and you can talk to me for two minutes about your new shoes at break time”. Once you have made this agreement with a child, it is important to be consistent about following it up.
• Put up photographs of pupils raising their hands to speak. This reminds children of the target behaviour.