Instructing Young Children

08/18/2014

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of a good teacher.
Temple Grandin

"As adults, we often forget, when we are talking to children, that they think more concretely and process information at a slower pace than we do. When we adapt our instructions to children's level of understanding, we are not talking down to them." This observation comes from David Elkind in his new book, Parenting On the Go. Elkind offers tips to go along with this observation, such as...

Be specific. Instructions should be short and clear... One guideline is to use one word per age of child.
Because children process information more slowly than we do, it's a good idea to give only one instruction at a time.
Accentuate the positive. You will have much more success and much less frustration, if you tell children what you want them to do rather than what not to do.
Phrase your instructions so as to tell the child what you want, not ask him or her to make the decision.

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