Learning to listen

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By Karen Hart – writer

Hearing and listening are two very different things, and it’s within this difference that many learning difficulties arise – not just in nursery and primary, but also secondary and beyond.

Children often assume that if they’re sitting quietly, they’re listening, but how much of what’s just been said by teacher has actually registered? Some children, it seems, are naturally good at becoming engaged, while others will, quite possibly unintentionally, use teacher instruction time as their cue to daydream. The trick is to get children tuned in – and it’s never too early to start.

Keeping things fun is always the best way to grab attention. Try out some of the following tried and tested games, using concentration skills to engage children and keep them on task. Once you’ve secured their concentration the listening becomes automatic.

Repetitive stories

Storytelling naturally encourages listening skills, and one of the best ways of focusing attention at storytime is by telling repetitive stories and rhymes. This allows children to follow the story, listening out for and joining in with the repetitive sections.

A good story to use is The Gingerbread Man, where children can try to remember all the characters trying to catch the gingerbread man, calling out the list of names. Children need to concentrate to remember everyone in the correct order, and they love the challenge.

Some other books and rhymes to use could be:

The Enormous Turnip
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Ten in the Bed
The Little Red Hen
Old Macdonald had a Farm
The Wheels on the Bus
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Published 28 November 2016

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michelem
on 8 August 2014

learning to listen

Of course, we often use these methods to encourage listening...but, sometimes it's good to have a fresh look at the reasons FOR DOING....good CPD

I'm going to add one or two more prominently to my planning re: learning through sounds/themed activities.
Feps
on 17 January 2013

learning to listen

although i think most of these things were in the back of my mind to read them in one block was very helpful and interesting - good information
Davinia
on 14 January 2013

Learning to listen

Really comprehensive list of activities. These need very few props and those needed are very easy to find. Very useful as most groups have children who have problems with listening even if it is just for a short period of time when they have something on their mind such as moving house, new baby in family etc
Caretta
on 12 January 2013

Learning to listen

Many of these ideas I was familiar with already but I scanned through and picked up a couple of things like the memory matching game using old cards cut in half. Thanks for this simple idea and recycling tip! I was also delighted to come across the idea of filling icecream cones with fruit. I bought some half price recently and was wondering what I could do with them that would be healthy. There is so much that could be done with this to improve their listening skills, comprehension, vocabulary and mathematical skills. Thank you!