How Listening Sets the Foundation of Language and Allows for More Growth
Having the skills to listen is extremely important, as it is one of the fundamental parts of communication, however, listening also has direct connections to other developmental skills that are vital to our children. What are these other skills? Why are they important?
Discover the connections between listening and other skill sets…
Foundations of Language for our Children
When your child has good listening habits, they subsequently have other good habits that go hand in hand with listening. This includes sound and phonological awareness, reading comprehension, socializing, communication, and more. Sound awareness is when children are comfortable distinguishing between sounds, for example, different animal noises, but also other facets of sound, such as volume and tone. Listening habits also help develop your child's reading skills. Without good listening skills, children struggle to listen to stories being read out loud. Consequently, this means that the child isn't internalizing what they are hearing, and therefore missing out on the growth and development that they would be getting from understanding what is being read to them. If a child can comprehend how sentences are structures and how words are pronounced, when it comes time to read and write, they will have less difficulties.
Language is a big part of communication, as is listening, and all three of these come together when children interact with one another. As children grow, they start to develop their theory of mind. Theory of mind is when children understand that other people have thoughts just like they do, but they understand that others may not share the same thoughts that they do. Children who are able to listen to other children and understand what other children are saying will be the ones who form the strongest connections and relationships.
To learn more about the complexities of our brains, click here
To learn more about how you can help learn to listen at home, click here