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Practice, Practice, Practice Speaking

Tags

^21st Century Skills Social-Emotional Learning ^Extra-curricular/At-Home All Ages Strategy

Skills

Anxiety Auditory Processing Expressive Language Listening Comprehension

Practice, Practice, Practice Speaking

If your child is uncomfortable speaking in class or around peers

Teach It!

  1. Objective: Students who have difficulty with speaking or listening skills will build confidence when given encouragement and safe and ample opportunities to practice in the home environment.
  2. Key Takeaways: Create a safe environment where your child feels comfortable speaking without being judged or corrected. Rather than point out errors in their speech, conversationally repeat back what they said in the correct manner. For example, if the child pointed and said, "Those ones are the funnest," repeat back in an interested way, "Those are the most fun?"
  3. Engage: Engage your child in rich conversation as much as possible. Begin dialogue by observing what is happening around you: "Wow, I'm noticing Spring approaching quickly. Those buds on the tree branches were not there yesterday." Pause and let your child add in his observation. Or prompt, "What do you notice?"
  4. Model: Model language first and then create openings for your child to share. At the dinner table, you might say, "My favorite part of the weekend was when we had lunch with your cousins. What was your favorite part of the weekend?"

Why It Works (the Science Of Learning)!

Parents should be considerate of students' sensitivities and not remind them of their weaknesses or offer constant corrections. The more they speak, the more comfortable they will be, and the more their speaking will naturally improve.