Observing Communication

Blog Week 3: Observing Communication This week, I chose to observe my father-in-law interacting with my three year olds (Owen and Ella). Don (my father-in-law) was sitting on the floor with the children. Ella was playing with her babies and feeding them. Don asked her questions about the doll’s name and what she was feeding them. Owen was playing with cars. He was lining them up according to color. Don asked Owen the color names of the cars. Don asked Ella if her baby liked cars. Ella responded “yes”. Don asked Owen if he and Ella could play with him. Together, they set the baby against the wall and placed several cars in front of the doll. Owen matched the colors to the color the baby was wearing (blue). Don commented about the matching colors. **************************************** Effective Communication Strategies Observed: • Don got down to their physical level to interact with them. • Don respected what they were playing and asked if he could join them. • Don asked questions about the activity that extended their language. For example, he talked about the parts of the cars or the body parts of the doll. • Don also engaged Owen in touching the doll (it has hair). Owen has sensory issues and often flinches when touching unfamiliar objects. Don guided him, but let Owen pull away when he was nervous. ******************************* Owen and Ella (as well as my older son, Noah) enjoy interacting with their grandparents. They are very blessed to have grandparents that enjoy spending time with them and helping them gain developmental skills. All of my children have distinct interests and Don encouraged them to play with each other beyond parallel play. He reinforced correct responses (by saying “good job”) and corrected them when needed. ****************************** As a mother, I love to allow my kids to pick what we play together. Of course, I also chose activities that can work on a specific skill (such as sorting, matching, or even manipulating fine motor skills). As a parent, teacher, and even babysitter, I always sit on the ground with the child. I like to look at the environment from their perspective. A plus side, if a toy is lost, this is an excellent way to help find it! ************** I also love asking children questions as we are playing to help gain knowledge about their current skills as well as offer new information about the activity.