I was at a Back- to- School
Expo event on Friday when I observed a mother and her child interacting with
each other. They were talking about what
kind of backpack she would get for this upcoming school year. They engaged in
several conversations about school clothes, supplies and what they were going
to do after the event was over. She also asked her mother why were they at this
event?
As adults we often
think we need to take the lead on conversations with children. Instead of
listening to what children have to say. Some things that could have been done
differently in this adult –child interaction is the adult could have listened
more to what the child was saying instead of telling her to be quite.
My thoughts in regards
to the communication I observed at the Back-to-School Expo are that the mother
could have asked open-ended questions and once the child answered she could
have continued the conversation on to enhance the child’s thinking.
By not letting a child
express him or herself makes them have no sense of self- worth. This would
decrease their self-esteem and lead to issues with self-worth. The child may
feel what they have to say is not important.
When interacting with
children it is important to get on their level. By getting on a child’s level they
are not inferior of your presence or having a conversation with an adult. Another
was the back and forth exchanges between both parent and child they were short sometimes
only using one word. Those were the observations made at the Back-to-School
Expo with the interaction between the mother and her daughter.
Some things I would
have done different is to let the child take the lead in the conversation,
listen to what is being said and continue the conversation while incorporating
ways to enhance the child’s thinking. I would use open-ended questions and
juicy words that will provoke their thinking while making connections to
real-life experiences (Dangei & Durden, 2010).
Ways I can improve on
my interactions with children to be a more effective communicator are to notice
my body language, make eye contact, speak with firmness, use positive directions
and allow children to make choices appropriate to their level.
References
Rainer Dangei, J., & Durden, T. R. (2010). The nature of
teacher talk during small group activities. YC: Young Children, 65(1),
74-81.
Child Welfare League of America. 2000. Communicating with young children
Hi Ebony, isn't it funny how as adults we can become so task oriented. This mum obviously went to the expo with a purpose and that seems to be all that was on her mind. I think the advice given this week about learning to listen to our children is great advice. We don't only need to listen with our ears, but with our eyes too. Often children's actions and/or reactions give us clues as to what they are interested in. I think often times we overlook these opportunities as we get too involved in the busy-ness of life. I think we can all learn from your decision on ways to improve interactions with children. I think we must also be prepared for making mistakes along the way, but it is important that we continually strive to improve.
ReplyDeleteEbony,
ReplyDeleteI agree that the conversation was too short with the child. I think the mother could have better prepared the child for this event by explaining why it was important to be present at the event and expected behavior while attending. Mother could have also spoken to the child so that they would have known the conversation was going to continue at a later time. Perhaps the child was thinking that what she had to say was not important ant it really was. Good observation!
It sounds like this was more of the mother talking and not really listening to the child. The mother needed to take the time to listen to what the child was saying and also give her more opportunities to be part of the conversation. You did a good job of noting what you observed and explaining how it could have been handled differently.
ReplyDeleteHi Ebony
ReplyDeleteYou are correct that the image that premature exposure to adult sexual image and value had a negative impact on the psychological development of children. There are media that promote small children young as four and five as model. These little girls wear make-up, model adult hair style and other image that send the message that little baby are sexy. This type of media cover has promoted sexual image for four and five year old is very unhealthy. Parent has placed their young children in this type of environment that says my child is a sex object. As an educator we have to educate the community about how image can affect our young children.
You are so right when you said that we as adults feel like we need to lead the direction of the interactions we have with children. We get so caught up in our lessons plans and planned activities that we sometimes lose sight of what children may want to discuss. I found that it has helped me to make circle time on Fridays to be completely child-directed. I found that this provides me a personal structure that requires me to stay focus on ideas of the children instead of the subject matter that I choose to focus on. I have to be honest that Friday circle time is my favorite because I find out the most interesting things about my kiddos that I did not know because I did not give the opportunity to lead me to their interest.
ReplyDelete