Day: September 25, 2023

  How do children know that they are an important part of a conversation? How can we encourage a child to initiate a conversation? We can Observe, Wait, and Listen (OWL). Observe, Wait, and Listen are important strategies that parents, caregivers, and other communication partners can use to increase engagement, feedback, and allow for a child-lead communication environment.  Observe: During the Observe phase, parents, caregivers, or other communication partners are observing what the child is interested in (e.g., trucks, dinosaurs, slime) and looking for opportunities where the child may communicate. The child might initiate communication independently either through gestures, words, sounds or actions. However, the child might start an activity without stating what they are doing. Through the use of

Giving children choices helps them feel like they have some power and control over what they do. Everyone likes to have choices in what they do. Some caregivers think they need to do all of the planning. They forget that children can and need to make choices too. Here are some times throughout the day when you can offer choices: Food for snack time Clothing items when getting dressed While playing with toys Book reading Bath time toys