•  25 Ways to Talk So Children Will Listen. A major part of child training and discipline is learning how to talk with children so they will really listen to you.

 •  Listening Skills for Lectures. One-page printout for older students. Applies to listening to a sermon.

 •  50 Nifty Speaking and Listening Activities. 33-page free ebook.
Simple, engaging activities for oral language development. (Sample pages; not all 50 activities are included).
Pages 10- 12: Table 11 - Scope and sequence of speech and language development including listening, speaking, reading, and writing for 1st - 5th grade.
Page 13 lists specific suggestions for speech and language development success for early and later elementary.
Page 19 - 33: Lesson plans and learning activities.

Listening Activities

 •  Interactive Listening Activities. Interactive listening games and activities for various age groups (babies-teens).

 •  Games To Improve Listening Skills for Kids.

 •  Activities for Kids To Promote Listening.

 •  Activities To Develop Listening Skills. First stage; Second stage.

 •  Do You Hear What I Hear? Listening Activities.

 •  Listening and Concentration Games and Activities for Junior Classes.

 •  Five Playful Ways to Work on Listening and Following Directions for younger children.

 •  Developing Effective Listening Skills in Children.

 •  Pinterest Board. 70 pins of resources for listening skills and following directions.

Bible Lessons

 •  Samuel Listens. 6-page free ebook with Bible lesson and listening activities and crafts.

 •  God Speaks to Samuel. 14-page free ebook with Bible lesson plan, activities and crafts.

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Copyright 2014 The Teaching Home

In this issue we are beginning a series to help you evaluate and strengthen your children's basic skills in various academics areas.

In each issue, articles will discuss a topic (such as "listening" in this issue), give you practical activities to do, and help you apply principles to everyday life.

This series is based on and expanded from an article by Dr. Harold Wengert in the October/November 1989 Teaching Home magazine (not available as a back issue). Dr. Wengert, from Arizona, was an excellent educator and advocate for home education. We look forward to sharing his wisdom with you over the next few months!

May the Lord bless you and your family for His glory.

Listening is a foundational skill for obtaining knowledge and wisdom. After the purpose of the Book of Proverbs is stated in 1:1-7, the next verse reads:

"Hear, my son, your father's instruction,
And do not forsake your mother's teaching."

Do not confuse listening with simply hearing sounds. Listening is an important skill and habit that must be purposefully developed by each of us and used in every area of our lives and throughout our lives.

Academics & Work
 •  Listening is a prime way to learn.
 •  Good listening helps you learn more efficiently.
 •  Good listening helps you make less mistakes on the job.

Interpersonal Relationships
 •  Listening improves your interpersonal relationships.
 •  Good listening helps you understand others.
 •  Listening is a wonderful gift to give to those you love.

These principles can apply to anyone in any situation and should be taught and modeled to our children.

Have a goal to establish good listening habits for each family member.

Prepare yourself to listen

1.  Pray that you can truly listen and understand.

2.  Find a time and place that is conducive to listening.

3.  Stop what you are doing and look at the person speaking.

Listen attentively

1.  Eliminate or shut out distractions as much as possible.

2.  Sit or stand near the speaker.

3.  Listen quietly and don't interrupt.

4.  Pay attention and concentrate on what is being said.

5.  Listen reflectively; think about what you hear.

6.  Don't be thinking of your reply while the other person is speaking.

7.  Recognize what nonverbal language (facial expressions, gestures, and tone) is communicating.

8.  If your attention wanders during a sermon or speech, change your position or breathe deeply.

9.  Take notes if appropriate.

Listen with an open mind

1.  Eliminate your prejudices or critical spirit concerning the speaker, his delivery style, or his subject matter.

2.  Don't form rebuttals and argue mentally.

Encourage the speaker

1.  Acknowledge by responses that you are listening and understand by maintaining good eye contact, smiling, nodding your head, or short comments like, "I see," or "Yes."

2.  Ask questions if you do not understand.

3.  Ask open-ended questions that lead to further sharing. (e.g., "Tell me more" or "Tell me about your day.")

4.  Empathize; let the speaker know you understand his feelings.

5.  Summarize and paraphrase back to the speaker what you heard; check to see if it was what was meant. Use "You feel" or "You mean."

Assimilate

1.  Look for positive and helpful ideas or suggestions.

2.  Determine what the main point is.

3.  Recognize any underlying or outright plea for help.

4.  Reply only after the speaker has finished his thoughts and you have verified that you understand them.

5.  Evaluate facts, evidence, and logic.

6.  Evaluate the message from a biblical worldview in the light of God's written word.

7.  If appropriate, apply the message to yourself and/or plan to take any necessary action.

Applications

Discuss these principles of good listening with your family and see how you can apply them as you:

1.  Listen to God

2.  Listen to your spouse

3.  Listen to your children or parents

4.  Listen to sermons and speeches

5.  Listen to friends, relatives, and neighbors

Listening to others builds relationships and leads to increased opportunities to influence others for good.

Use everyday activities to improve listening skills, and practice until good listening become a habit.

Many of these activities can also be done by an older child with a younger child. This builds skills in both children.

A Note about Learning Styles. You may have observed that your child prefers to learn, and learns most easily, through his sense of hearing, sight, or touch. If one of your children is weak in the auditory (hearing) avenue of learning or if he is a young child just developing learning skills, you can use the following activities to teach and/or strengthen his listening skills.

1.  When stories are read aloud, ask lots of questions about the story. (Note: Future parts of this series will address reading comprehension and provide useful questions to ask.)

2.  Give your child a reason for listening. Before reading a story, ask questions that are to be answered when you finish reading.

3.  Give oral instructions in your daily activities only once. Be sure to get your child's attention first and speak clearly and distinctly. This will encourage your child to listen.

4.  Ask your child to draw a picture or a map route using oral directions.

5.  Have your child do a series of physical actions based on a sequence of oral directions (e.g., hop two times, turn around, touch the ground, stand up, and reach for the sky). Start simply and add to the number of steps and the complexity of the directions.

6.  Have your child interview other family members and repeat the details back to you.

7.  Have your child read his own lessons aloud into a tape recorder and then replay the lessons. Both reading and hearing the lesson helps build listening skills.

8.  Have an older child listen to a short radio message or news broadcast and then write a summary of all or part of it afterwards.

9.  Practice listening to each other. For example, at the dinner table when one person is talking, have everyone pay close attention and then check up by asking questions.

10.  Have your child listen to a clapping rhythm and repeat it back to you.