Listen!
Listening to and giving directions helps your child to sharpen listening and speaking skills.

• Any small object, such as a ball or a photograph
• Objects that can make noise, such as keys, water glasses, spoons and decks of cards

What to Do

	For success in school, children need to learn to listen carefully, to see and hear details and to follow and give clear directions.

• Hide a small object. Give your child directions to find it such as, "Take five steps straight ahead. Turn right. Keep the lamp to your left. Bend down and look to the right." Next, have your child hide the object and give you directions to find it.
   
• Have your child close his eyes. Use something to make a sound, such as rattling your keys, tapping a spoon against a glass or riffling a deck of cards). Ask your child to guess what's making the sound.
   
• Clap your hands to tap out a rhythm. Have your child listen and then clap that same rhythm back to you. Make the rhythms harder as he catches on.
   
• Take a walk with your child. Find a place to sit for a few minutes and both close your eyes for 30 seconds or so. Tell each other what you hear: a baby crying, an airplane, a bird singing, cars on the street, leaves rustling.
   
• Take a walk with your child. This time, take turns telling each other what to do: cross the street, turn left, look down.