Attention and Listening in the Early Years

Book excerpt: The ability to attend, to listen and to look are prerequisites to all forms of learning. By facilitating children's attention and listening skills, we are able to give them a better chance of achieving their potential in communication, speech and language, and therefore learning skills. Attention and Listening in the Early Years is an innovative course designed for groups of children aged 2-4. Each group session is planned around a theme such as 'The Farm' or 'The Zoo'. The themes provide an anchor for the children to gain meaning from the listening activities, games and songs that will help them learn to sit still, not talk, look at the speaker and think about the words - all vital skills in good listening. Complete with full instructions, including lists of the equipment needed for each session and the auditory and visual objectives of each activity, the book also includes photocopiable detailed preparation plans and shorter prompt plans for use during the sessions. Each session should run for no longer than 15 to 25 minutes, and will be a fun and fruitful alternative to traditional circle-time for early years practitioners such as playgroup and preschool leaders, and speech and language therapists.