Help for Poor Listening Skills in Kindergarten

Question: The teacher says that my kindergarten son might need to be retained because of his poor listening skills. However, she had no suggestions when I asked for her input on how together we could improve his listening. -- HELP

Answer: You definitely need to find out if your son's only problem in kindergarten is his listening ability, or if he has any other problems that also need to be addressed. Fortunately, there are some things that you can start doing at home to improve his listening:

  • -When you give directions, occasionally ask your child to repeat or rephrase them. When a task is completed, praise him for his cooperation.
  • -Avoid repeating directions, requests and general information. Let your son suffer the consequences of tuning out what his family is saying.
  • -Play listening games with him like Simon Says and "I'm going on a trip and I'm going to take a (name an object plus all the objects other players have mentioned)." The latter can be played at the dinner table.
  • -Start reading brief stories to your child, and ask him to tell you when he hears certain information.
  • -Read part of a story and ask your child to predict how it will end before finishing the story.

Have many one-on-one conversations with your child. Be sure to ask for feedback so you know he's able to process what he hears.

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