•2-This also allows you to respond appropriately to their needs and concerns and offer appropriate guidance. It will be easier for you to follow your child’s lead. You may realise that some sounds, noises, eye contact or body language are directed at specific things you didn’t notice before. This may be your child’s conversation, and you will be in a good position to notice and join in!

•Your child will be able to see your mouth movements as you model words for them.

3-A relaxed and comfortable environment also helps to foster positive relationships between the teacher and the child. . You will see things as they see them and be more aware of their interests and what they might want to talk about.

4-When children feel they are being listened to and valued, they are more likely to speak up and express their ideas and opinions. This can help to build their confidence and self-esteem, which can have a positive impact on their overall development.

In conclusion, getting down to a child’s level while speaking to them is a critical aspect of effective communication with young children. It helps to establish a connection, build trust and rapport, and create an environment conducive to learning. By adopting this approach, teachers and caregivers can create a positive and engaging environment that supports the social, emotional, and cognitive development of young children.

•Eye contact grabs the learner's attention and sends the message, “I see you and want you to know that you are involved in this conversation.” If that eye contact is preceded by a question, the majority of learners perceive that they are being given the floor to speak

•Creates a bond with others. ...

•Displays honesty. ...

•Improve understanding between people. ...

•Build respect. ...

•Eye contact helps others remember what you said. ...

•Eye contact can help with self-awareness

•Reasons a Child May Avoid Eye Contact

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•A lack of eye contact does not always indicate a child is autistic. A child can avoid eye contact because they:

•Are fearful of or dislike the person who is attempting to make eye contact

•Are hard of hearing or deaf and are unaware that they should look at someone

•Feel a general sense of social anxiety or shyness

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Improving eye contact

•Position yourself at your child’s eye level if possible. It’s less eye strain and easier to look at you this way.

•When you give your child an object, hold it to your eyes, so that (s)he must reach out and grab it. You are right there, behind the object!

•Whenever your child does look at you, celebrate him/her for it! Tell them how much you appreciate them looking. (S)he may not know how special it is to you

•Observe what is happening, gather some information on what the children are doing. Do they need adult interaction and if so what would the purpose of this be?

•Follow children’s lead, if children suggest a certain role for you to play accept this and sensitively use your skill full knowledge to enhance the learning.

•Offer ideas that are related to the play, avoid asking closed questions, instead engage with the children by following their directions and tune into their ideas.

•Allow children to steer the play. It is very easy for adults to take over; this however can take away crucial elements of children’s play.

•Do the children give you eye contact?, do they look over to you ?and are they happy for you to observe them?.

•Are children involving you in their conversations? and are they trying to involve you in their play?

1.Rearrange the classroom in appealing corners or areas

2.Check the content of the corners and replace unattractive materials with more appealing ones

3.Introduce new and unconventional materials and activities

4.Observe children, discover their interests and find activities that meet these orientations

5.Support ongoing activities through stimulating impulses and enriching interventions

6.Widen the possibilities for free initiative and support them with sound rules and agreements

7.Explore the relation with each of the children and between children and try to improve it

8.Introduce activities that help children to explore the world of behaviour, feelings and values

9.Identify children with emotional problems and work out sustaining interventions

10.Identify children with developmental needs and work out interventions that engender involvement within the problem area.

•In addition, practitioners may find it difficult to introduce wait time practically, and very few practitioners use wait time effectively . However, research shows that children provide higher-quality responses when given wait time. By rushing children for a response, practitioners may be missing out on valuable opportunities for language growth in young children 

•Regular opportunities are necessary for young children to engage in back and forth conversations, they develop interaction, listening and communication skills which all help them to become good, effective communicators. If wait time is not given to the child to reflect on what they want to say and how to say it, they will not develop such skills .

•Giving children opportunities to reflect on and communicate their own answers will help them develop key language and communication skills. Answering for a child instead of giving sufficient wait time can hinder this, because they won’t have been able to practice these important skills 

•Tuning in: listening carefully to what is being said, observing body language and what the child is doing.

•Showing genuine interest: giving their whole attention to the child, maintaining eye contact, affirming, smiling, and nodding.

•Pay Attention to Nonverbal Language. Observing nonverbal language is another component of active listening. ...

•Use Nonverbal Cues. ...

•Be Mindful of How You Respond.

•With active listening, the speaker is given the time and space to speak as much as they want. And they are encouraged to continue

Through the use of language and open-ended questioning we as parents are able to expand our children's curiosity and ability to reason, their creativity, thinking ability and independence.
 

Benefits of asking young kids open-ended questions

Children who are taught to think about things at an early age through open-ended questions are better equipped to understand the world around them, and relate this new information to past or present experiences.

Open-ended questions have no right or wrong answers, but help to broaden children’s thinking processes, to develop their speech and language skills, and to build confidence in their ability to express themselves using words.

Why ask open-ended questions

Using open-ended questions has many benefits and they help to:

• encourage children to think beyond the obvious.

• encourage children to think of as many possibilities as they can, before deciding upon the best or most appropriate answer.

• increase co-operation and understanding.

• allow children to include more information, feelings, attitudes and understanding of the topic.

• provide children with opportunities to explain or describe something, thereby expanding and developing their speech, language and vocabulary.

• can require children to recall recent or past events which develops their short and long-term memory skills.

• require adults to listen attentively to children’s responses and this shows the children that what they are saying is important.

Using open-ended questions

Ask "what" questions to start a conversation. Point to an item and say "what is this?" or "what is this called?"

Repeat what your child says and let your child know his or her answer is right by repeating it, “Yes, that is a cat.”

Extend on what your child says, but keep the phrases short and simple to ensure that they are able to imitate what you've said.

For example, “Yes, that is a black cat”. The conversation can continue. "What is the cat doing?" "Yes, it looks like the cat is sleeping".

The older the child, the more extensive the questions can become.

There are no right or wrong questions or answers, but caregivers should ensure that they ask children questions in a way that they can comprehend them, so that even if they cannot provide an answer, they can still think about it.

Open-ended questions often start with “why”, “how”, or phrases like “I would like to know more about”, “Tell me about”, or “I am interested in hearing more about.” 

Asking open-ended questions is a habit you can adapt using a few tricks.
 

Starting open-ended questions:

Here are 9 easy ways to start an open-ended question:

1. What would happen if...

2. What do you think about...

3. I wonder...

4. In what way...

5. Tell me about...

6. How can we...

7. What would you do...

8. How did you...

9. Why do you think…

After asking your child an open-ended question, allow quiet time for them to think before responding to your comment or question. Young children often need extra time to decide what to say and how to say it.

Try to use open-ended questions to start a conversation with your child and not just to gather information.

The most interesting conversations with children are often those that result from a sequence of open-ended questions that move the discussion and reveal responses that you would never have imagined.
 

For example, if the original question was “How are you making those bubbles?” we could use the following alternative comments:

• Exclamation: “Wow, what beautiful bubbles!”

• Label or name: “That is a small one, but that is a bigger one!”

• Describe what the child is doing: “I see – you dip the wand into the soapy water and blow slowly,”

• Describe from your own perspective: “I love watching them float… and then popping them with my finger, POP!”

• Pondering: “I wonder how we could make an even larger bubble?”

If we consider Open, Closed and Possibility questions:

• Closed questions have a single word answer, where the adult often has a particular answer that a child has to find.  Examples: “What colour is the sky?”, “How was your day?”, “What’s your favourite food?”, “Do you have a sister/brother?”

• Open questions are considered beneficial in helping a child’s thinking.  This is because they have a range of answers to choose from, encourage higher levels of engagement, and stimulate curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking, e.g.“I wonder what…?”, “What do you think would happen if…?”, “How does it work?”

However, an open question can sometimes be too big or complex for a young child, a child with English as an additional language or delayed language development.  In these situations, a simple closed question is actually more appropriate.

• Adult: What did you have for snack today?

• Child:  ……..

• A:  Did you have crackers?

• Ch: No

• A: Did you have….. Cheese?

• Ch: No

• A: Did you have…… Toast? 

• Ch: Yes! 

• A:  Oh lovely!  I wonder what you had on it….?

Again, that is about knowing the children in your care.  There may be times it is developmentally appropriate to give a child a choice (as indicated in the ‘Words Up’ video above) to choose from to support them in learning to make decisions and answer questions, e.g. “Would you like toast or an apple for a snack?”. 

Closed questions can sometimes be a way to lead to an open question; however, not all children are developmentally ready for an open or a possibility question. 

Possibility questions are to encourage more creative, open responses from the children; to make them think about what might be, e.g. “What was the most difficult part of building your space station?”, “How could you make it even better?”

Again, these questions require you to know your children well and whether it is developmentally appropriate to ask these questions.  Knowing your children, being aware of these different questions and their uses as part of Shared Sustained Thinking.

Sometimes questioning is not appropriate.  See Keys to Communication for other ways to engage with children to support speech and language development.

• young children not yet expressing themselves through language, use single words rather than phrases.

• children using single and simple words to communicate, start modelling short phrases to expand their language.

Reading books with them and asking what they think will happen next

Call and response games - the ministers cat etc

Singing songs

Playing describing games - eye spy

Nursery rhymes

"Enriching and widening vocabulary, within the context of understanding the world, should happen daily. Talk is a key resource and is relevant for all children, from the very youngest, to those who will soon transition to reception".

"Enhance ecological awareness by using words to describe changes within the natural world, including animals, plants, flowers, trees and birds. The seasons are a natural resource for children to observe, feel and experience the weather".

"In typical development: 

• Children say their first words about the age of one (although they understand some words for some time before this). 

• By about 18 months, children might use about 20 words, but they’ll understand more. 

• By two years old, most children can say 50 words and understand between 200 and 500. 

• By three years old, most children can say about 300 words. 

• By the time a child reaches five years old, they’ll know and use as many as 2,500 words".

How can I help children in my setting to learn new words?

• "Remember, children learn words best from other people. Play and chat with the child often to help them learn new words. 

• Use gesture or actions to teach new words. This can give children an extra clue about the word’s meaning. For example, if you are talking about a ‘huge’ elephant you could stretch your arms really wide. 

• Repetition is really important. Children need to hear a new word lots of times before they learn it properly, so keep saying the word you want them to learn! 

• Add one word to what the child says. Remember to say the grammatical parts of sentences like ‘a’ and ‘ing’ as this helps the child know where the words go in sentences. For example, if the child says, ‘Cat’, you could say, ‘Yes, a fluffy cat’ or ‘The cat’s hiding’". 

Using prompting questions such as

• What do you think comes next

• Is there any other way we could try?

• Which bit is it you’re finding tricky?

• What did you think about that?

Set the right level of challenge -

• ensure the task isn’t too tricky

• Is it at there right age and stage

Slow down and sit back, allow the child to problem solve as you might find they are more than capable of doing so it might just take them a little longer.

Giving the child hints but minimal help to allow the child to get to the next step themselves

Praise the child and use language like “well done” and if they couldn’t quite get it use language such as “that’s ok, we can try again tomorrow”

• "A running narrative technique, where the adult comments on what the child is doing without pressure, is suitable for shy children or children with English as an additional language.

  
  

• Creating an atmosphere that encourages children to ask questions is essential". 

For example, if your child cries in the kitchen as a way of asking for food, it might be too hard for your child to learn to say ‘hungry’ or ‘food’. Instead, the next step could be teaching your child to point to or reach for the food. You could do this by modelling – that is, showing your child what to do by pointing at the food yourself. You could also help your child physically by guiding their hand to point to the food.

Or if your child communicates by pulling your hand towards the things they want, the next step could be using words or picture cards. You could model this – for example, by saying ‘teddy’ or using a ‘teddy’ picture card when your child pulls your hand towards their teddy".