Module 3: Choosing Skills To Teach
In this module, we’ll start with a little story that shows how important it is for a child to be able to request what he wants. Then we’ll suggest some guidelines that you can use to decide if a specific skills is an important one to teach early on. We will then talk about how to teach some very basic, learning-to-learn skills such as pointing to request. Start with the story (Vignette) and then the guidelines found below the story. Then, work your way through each of the sections in the order listed. When you reach the end of each section, you will find a link to the next.
Adding Eye Contact To Pointing
A Few More Words About Eye Contact…
A Few More Words About Pointing…
Module 3 Choosing Skills To Teach Quiz
Module 3 Vignette: Requesting
When we first met Nicolas, he was two years and 10-months-old. More than anything, his mother was worried about how much he cried. He would just start crying for no obvious reason. Sometimes, he would cry so hard he would make himself throw up. A common trigger seemed to be offering him a snack that she chose for him. It wasn’t until she started to teach Nicolas to ask for things he wanted by pointing that she realized what the problem might be.
She had been working on pointing with him every day for over a week and he was getting very good at using his pointer finger. On this day, she got out a few different treats to try. She had a bag of small crackers, a small piece of fruit, and a box of larger crackers. She poured a little bit of each snack onto a plate and opened a juice box.
She put him in his highchair, and she sat in front of him with the plate of snacks and juice on the table next to her. Nicolas could see them, but he could not reach them. She decided to start with the larger crackers because she thought they were his favorites. She held a cracker up to him expecting him to reach for it. Instead, he was looking at the plate of snacks, pushed her arm away, and looked like he was going to start crying. She followed his eyes to the plate and put it where he could reach it. Right away he reached for the piece of fruit. “Ah!” she said. “You want fruit!” He smiled as his mother helped him form a point and point to the fruit, which she immediately gave him.
Nicolas is still working on using a point to ask for things. But starting that day, his mother knows to offer him choices and he will usually point to what he wants without help. As she told us that story, she shared how she had felt both happy and sad, at the same time. She was so happy that Nicolas is learning to ask for the things he wants and he is crying much less. But she was sad thinking about how frustrating it must have been for him to know what he wanted and have no idea how to get it. Now, as long as what he wants is where he can see it, or he knows where it is, he has a way to communicate what he wants, and his life is less frustrating.
FIVE GUIDELINES
The skills that you choose to teach should be functional and socially significant. That is, they should serve a purpose in the child’s life. When deciding upon a new skill that you want to teach, ask yourself the following questions first. Be sure that you can answer yes to at least one of them.
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The first skills we would like you to teach are skills that we sometimes call “learning-to-learn skills” or “foundational learning skills.” These skills are the basic building blocks that we can use to teach other skills. For example, learning to imitate is an important building block. Once your child learns to imitate others, he will be able to learn to do new things by watching other people and copying them. Learning to imitate sounds and words is especially important for a child who is learning to talk.
Matching things that go together are important building blocks for more advanced thinking skills. Learning to point and looking where another person is looking or pointing are also very important building blocks for communication.
These are all skills that help a child to learn more from the world around him. As we introduce each new skill, we will discuss why we have selected it, keeping these important guidelines in mind.
A word about screen time: You must be thinking that giving your child all the teaching that you see in this program will take a lot of time. You are right! The more you actively engage with your child in playing, teaching, or just cuddling, the better! Very young children learn best from interacting with adults and watching them. Children learn from watching and interacting with other children too. But, they do not learn as much from watching TV programs or playing video games.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, an organization of pediatricians, recommends no screen time from birth to age 2. From age 2 to age 5, they recommend no more than an hour a day of screen time. This time should be high quality programs designed to teach children. Parents should watch along with the child so they can make comments and explain things.
Screen time involves any activity or game played on a computer, laptop, iPhone or other cell phone, iPad, hand-held video game, or TV. Devices like these should not be kept in children’s bedrooms. Parents should decide when the child can use them. And it’s best for the child not to play these games alone. Instead, try to make these things more social. You can do this by sitting with your child and cheering him on or by taking turns.
We understand that there are times when parents need some time to themselves, or have chores they must complete and that screen time can keep a child amused and quiet. Instead, try giving children toys and puzzles they can play with actively instead of just watching. You could also let children ‘help’ with household chores. Feeling helpful builds confidence. Try as best as you can to do your tasks during your child’s nap time, as often as you can. This will leave more time in the day to spend with him when he is awake. Spending his waking hours with you will help your child to learn language, social skills, and overall development.
It is very important to note that face timing or being on Zoom with friends and relatives does not count as screen time. This is because it is social and allows children to see and interact with people they might not see often.
We will start with a very basic, learning-to-learn skill: pointing to request. Then, work your way through each of these sections in the order listed. When you reach the end of each section, you will find a link to the next.