1. Careers with Children What are three things you have learned about language centers in a Child Care Center?

2. Communication= Important 0 To provide guidance—caregivers must know how to communicate with children effectively. 0 Positive communication helps caregivers to interact in a nurturing, respectful, supportive, and responsive way.

3. Communication Cont. 0 Communication is more than words—it is tone, facial expressions, body language 0 The way you speak to a child can make a difference in their behavior and their relationship with you. 0 Listening is an important component of communication!!!

4. Active Listening 0 P---Pay attention 0 Look at the speaker 0 Encourage the speaker with your body language 0 U—Use Encouragement 0 “Use your words” 0 “Can you tell me about it?” 0 R—Restate 0 “You don’t like to eat peas.” 0 “You don’t want to come inside now, you want to stay outside and play.” 0 R—Reflect Feelings 0 “It makes you MAD when a toy is taken away from you” 0 “You are SAD because your mommy left.”

5. Ignore me game  You need a partner!  One person will go at a time to be the talker. They will talk to their partner for 1 minute about their weekend, what they favorite thing to do, favorite artist etc.  The other partner aka the listener will do their best to NOT listen and try to ignore the person talking.  Next switch roles…

6. Ignore me game Follow-up! 0 How did it feel when your partner was not listening? 0 Why is it important to practice these skills? Does it come naturally to you? 0 If you use active listening with a child how do you think it makes a child feel? 0 Can you think of long-term benefits from using active listening with kids?

7. Communication drawings 0 Need to find a Partner Need paper, pen/pencil only. 0 You and your partner will be facing back to back 0 One person will be handed a drawing and they will do their best to describe the drawing. 0 It is the other partner’s responsibility to listen to their partners directions and draw what they described.

8. Communication drawing 0 On a scale of 1-10 (1 being least effective and 10 being most effective) 0 How well did you describe the picture to your partner? 0 How well do you feel your partner did? 0 How hard was it to describe without any feedback from your partner ? 0 How difficult was it to the listener and “drawer” without speaking?

9. Communication drawing 0 What changes would you have made to be more effective as the speaker/drawer? 0 List the 5 words you found most helpful and beneficial while you were drawing? 0 What was most frustrating as the speaker/describer?

10. Communication drawing 0 What did this activity teach you about good communication skills? 0 How does this activity relate to working with children in a childcare setting?