Strengthen Your Child’s Auditory Mode of Learning Strategy 14 Strengthen Your Child’s Auditory Mode of Learning Have you ever said to your child: “How many times do I have to tell you?” I have said it to mine plenty of times! Here are some tips to help children learn from just listening.

Storytelling Try telling this story to your children to help them remember the continents: There once was a man named North. His last name was America. He fell in love with a beautiful woman named South. They got married and she took his name so she became South America. They honeymooned in Europe. This couple was blessed to have four daughters whose names all began the letter A. Their names were Africa, Antarctica, Asia, and Australia. The End (Tate, 2010, p. 107)

Reciprocal Teaching How does this work? Play school-let them teach you. Take the content your child is supposed to be learning and let them be the teacher. Have them teach you about the information they are supposed to be learning. VERY EFFECTIVE with younger students.

Discussion Make up games for the information they are supposed to be learning: Example-do these words rhyme: dog-log, cat-fat, file-fill Do not give excessive directions: do your homework, take out the trash, set the table, bring me your spelling words…. The adult brain can hold up to 7 things in the short term memory a child can hold fewer. Don’t make the evening into a battle zone.

Continued Connect content to something familiar. “Your great-grandfather was in WW II. Here is his picture…. Then repeat the facts several times the student is to learn. During reading, stop periodically and have your child tell you what the story is about whether the child is reading to you or alone. If your child does not enjoy reading, take turns reading. You read a paragraph then your child reads the next one.

Continued Possible Questions to ask while your child is reading or being read to: What happened in the story? What does this word mean? Who are the main characters? What is the story mostly about? What do you think is going to happen next? What conclusions can we reach?

Continued The greatest thing you can do for your child is to keep your child reading and keep talking to your child about what he or she is reading!