LISTENING TO LEARN

Listening is SUCH an important part of learning!

Being around a group of 20 children all learning "how to do school" is sometimes an overwhelming feeling!  As a parent, you know what it is like to get one or maybe four children to listen to you and so you might be wondering what we are doing at school to facilitate learning to listen in a group of 20 children.

Here are two examples of strategies I use in the classroom.  It would be wonderful if you could talk to your child about the importance of listening, the need to be quiet sometimes in a classroom of 20 children, and maybe even practice these activities with them at home!  Hopefully your child should be able to model what these activities LOOK and SOUND like at school.  Enjoy!

SMART KIDS READY TO LEARN:  I ask the children to show me "smart kids ready to learn"! Smart kids who are ready to learn have their hands in their laps, their eyes on me, and a quiet voice that is not talking.  Their brain is ready to be smarter!

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS:  I have a variety of instruments that I play in the classroom to get the attention of the children.  I have an xylophone,  a maraca, a tapper bell, and a music wand.  When the children hear the sound of the instrument they know that they are suppose to put their hands up in the air and that their voices should be quiet.  After I give directions, we clean up and move when we say the rhyme:  "1, 2, 3...quiet as can be!"