Speech Weekly Notes from Ms. Stacy Torrence

12.18.09

LISTENING AND FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS WITH PRESCHOOLERS

There are really two separate issues to discuss when we are looking at a preschooler’s ability to listen and follow directions. The first is about building skill — developing the ability to take in auditory information, process it, and do something with it. There are lots of fun ways we can work on these skills, but ultimately each child’s developmental readiness is going to guide the process. The second issue is in regards to cooperation and compliance. Your child may be processing the directions you gave her just fine, but not choosing to act on them. These are strategies to (hopefully) increase cooperation as well!

Fun Ways to Practice Listening Skills

Start with something simple: Talk with your child a lot. Have conversations. Interview each other. Tell jokes. Talk, talk, talk.

 

Read and read and then read some more. Audio books are fun, too.

 

Sing, too! Nursery rhymes, fingerplays, made-up songs,

 

Play Simon Says (or Mommy/Daddy Says!)

 

Play I Spy or other guessing games in which you and your child take turns giving each other clues.

 

When you are reading or telling a familiar story to your child, make a mistake, such as, “When Goldilocks arrived at The Three Frogs’ house, she went inside without knocking.” See if your child catches your mistake!

 

Giving Good Directions That Your Child Can Follow

 

Get down on your child’s level – eye contact is good, and it is also less intimidating to your child.

 

Make sure you have your child’s full attention before giving directions. Be straight-forward: “I am going to tell you what to do now. Ready?”

 

Keep your directions short and simple

 

Use visual cues if you can — point the direction you want him to go; touch her feet if you want her to get shoes on.

 

Ask your child to repeat back the directions.

 

Have appropriate expectations. Don’t give your child a three-step direction if you know she is not capable of remembering three steps. Break it down step-by-step until she is ready.

 

When possible, give choices instead of commands. “It’s time to clean-up. Would you like to start in your bedroom or the living room?”

 

Acknowledge good direction-following! A high-five, pat on the back, or thumbs up can be just what a busy preschooler needs to keep working on this skill

 

 

Scavenger hunts, treasure hunts, etc. with verbal clues.

 

Have fun with silly, unexpected directions: “Go to the kitchen and quack like a duck!”

 

When you cook together, talk about the steps. “First, we pour in the flour. Then, we add the sugar. Now, we mix it all together.” Use those sequencing words (first, next, then) so your child becomes familiar with them. We will be working on sequencing in upcoming language groups.

 

 

What’s Cooking?

 

Chocolate Crinkles

 

Ingredients:

 

¾ c. butter, melted

½ c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 c. sugar

2 lg. eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 (6 oz. bag) semisweet chocolate chips

¾ c. confectioners’ sugar

 

Directions:

 

The Pelican Class

 

The Pelicans are moving all over the room dancing to the music. Jackson really likes to dance. Painting with the colors red and green for the holidays! Their little faces light up especially Sami and Ashlyn’s! Gray has been trying to balance and is working on walking! Stacking blocks, pushing toys, pressing keys are some of Berkley’s and Maegan’s favorite things to do. Keaton the youngest of the all loves tummy time and reaching for toys. They all love to talk on the telephone. We pretend that we are calling Mom and Dad. We have had a wonderful week!! Have a great weekend and enjoy the snow!!

 

The Kangaroo Class

 

The Toddler Explorers really enjoy the sensory tubs that we played with! They had cottonballs and pinecones! We loved learning that pinecones are hard and the cotton balls are soft. We compared big vs. small pinecones. We talked about what we do with our families for the holidays. We read, “Spots First Christmas” and danced with bells to Christmas music. We talked about what reindeer eat, and what is Santa’s favorite food. We made glitter stars and made stars with Playdough. We made a Christmas stamp collage. We have been working really hard on our Christmas gifts! Have a Happy Holidays from the Kangaroo class!!! Enjoy the SNOW!

 

The Peacock Class

 

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in and around the peacock room! This week the peacock class has had fun learning about the letter “Ff” we played our classroom game where each child picks out a toy from the class and brings it to the group and we discuss it! We also discussed and learned about Christmas Trees. Where they cam from, what we use to decorate them, and what we put on the tops of them are some questions we talked about. Connor, Lucas, and Gryfin have really enjoyed our block center this week, where they love to build roads and buildings with the blocks! Caitlin, Emily, Riyana, and Mia have all enjoyed working like little elves in arts and crafts this week. We made Christmas ornaments, painted and colored with red and green paints, crayons, colored pencils, and markers they have really enjoyed this. We are definitely getting excited about Santa Clause coming to town, we have been talking about him and his reindeer all week! Please make sure you let the front desk know if you will not be here next week! Have a wonderful and safe Holidays! Enjoy the snow!!!

 

The Bunny Class

 

Hello Bunny families! The bunnies had a wonderful time discovering new things this week. During math we continued to work on measureing and estimating. We used our wood blocks to help us measure things around the classroom. Emily and Martin really enjoyed using the blocks to measure things like the table, books, and shelves. For science we discovered all the things in winter. We read stories abou winter, one called “Winter Words” was the class favorite. It discussed the key winter vocabulary that we associate winter with. Makayla and Nathan enjoyed learning about the words that go with winter! In language arts we started a new series called Discovery Quest. Discovery Quest is a literacy series designed with four levels. This series of books includes rhymes and poetry, traditional songs, stories, and informational books. Discovery Quest is geared to help your child develop reading skills, confidence, and pleasure! For social awareness we discussed families and holiday traditions. Riley and Addie loved telling the class what they love about Christmas! We also drew pictures of our favorite holiday food. Elara drew a beautiful picture of the milk and cookies she leaves Santa! Please remember if you will not be here the three days next week to sign your child’s name with the appropriate day! Thank you and have a great weekend! Enjoy the Snow!

 

The Walrus Class

 

Santa Claus is comin’ to town and the Walrus Class simply can’t wait for Christmas day! We’re working hard and having tons of fun this holiday season. In math we worked on our graphing skills by going through the process of collecting data and creating a graph with our results. We made a favorite holiday graph as well as a relative graph. We also learned about measurement and measured with cubes and measuring cups! In science we learned how to snow is made and read a story called, “When Winter Comes”. The story talked about different activities people do in winter, holidays of winter and what we wear during the cold months. In language arts we did connect the dot tracing and wrote on our own! We are continually working on letter identification and letter sounds. In art we made glitter pinecones, homemade gift wrap, and hand/foot print reindeer. In social studies we’ve been learning about different holidays in December. We even made our own LATKES in celebration of the first day of Hanukkah! We also discussed what we love about Christmas! Take a look below for our answers! We have been learning different Christmas songs each day but the most popular is “Frosty the Snowman”; the Walrus kids just love the “Chilly” tune! Have a wonderful and a safe, cheery holiday!!

 

My Favorite Thing about Christmas is…

“Going in the snow and making a snowball.” –Remmer

“Santa Claus brings presents to my house!” –Cate

“Playing with Mom, Dad, and Legos!” –Bree

“Playing with cars!” –Matthew

“Making Snowmen.” –Alan

“Playing with Mommy with presents and playing with my dog!” –Rye

“Making Frosty the Snowman!” –Sarah

“Playing outside in my playhouse!” –Ava Jordon

 

The Rooster Class

 

This week in the Rooster Class, we studied a lot of science. We made birdseed pinecones to feed the birds around the school and observed bird behavior. We also had to cooking projects: Baking gingerbread and “Wreaths” made from marshmallows and corn flakes. They were both yummy!

 

In language arts, we continued reading fairy tales, including, “The Gingerbread Man” and “The Gingerbread Boy!” We also worked with a new letter of the week, Ff. We brainstormed words starting with F, practiced writing F, and learned a letter F song.

 

To compliment our gingerbread theme, we made our own gingerbread man puppets in art! We also made peppermint candy and reindeer paintings using our hand prints! Finally, we worked on some very special, but top secret, projects to bring home for the holiday break.

 

The highlight for the Rooster’s week was our holiday program on Monday night. We enjoyed showing our families the carols we learned this month! Thank you to all the parents who came our and brought bookies to exchange! We loved sharing this special evening with you!