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Listening Readiness

What listening readiness skills should my child have when entering Kindergarten?

Children entering kindergarten should be able to:

Engage in conversations with peers and adults
Take multiple turns in a conversation
Wait to speak until another person has finished speaking
Begin to speak audibly and clearly
Begin to share thoughts and feelings
Follow two step directions
- I need you to go get your shoes. I need you to put on your coat.
Repeat two step directions
- I need to go get my shoes. I need to put on my coat.

Why Is Listening So Important?

Listening is not the same as hearing. Hearing is a physical process. Listening is a learned behavior. It includes hearing as well as understanding a message. Listening is storing and retrieving information.

How Can I Help My Child Be a Good Listener?

Model good listening to your child by

Looking directly at your child when he/she is talking.
Match your child’s size by bending or kneeling down to look your child in the eye.
Remove distractions such as phones or TV when listening to your child.
Spend as much time listening to your child as you do talking to your child.
Listen patiently. Young children often take longer to be able to express themselves. Be careful not to cut them off.
Repeat what your child has said to you. This demonstrates you value your child’s conversational skills.
React to what your child says. Respond to a statement by asking a question for your child to answer.

As you model good listening skills to your child, have your child:

Look at you as you are speaking
Wait until you are finished talking before speaking
When talking to someone else, have your child wait to talk to you until your conversation is finished
Answer a listening question:
- You: "What is the first thing I asked you to do?"
- Child: "You asked me to go get my shoes."
- You: "Yes, I asked you to go get your shoes."

Listening Activities for You and Your Child

Go for a walk and talk about the sounds you hear
Play rhyming games with family names - for example Sophie, Bophie, Tophie. Have your child repeat the three names.
Make up silly rhyming phrases for your child to repeat: Baa Baa Black Sheep, Taa Taa Plack Theep.
Play with walkie talkies while having a conversation
Listen to an audio story
Watch a story read on YouTube, then discuss the story.
Have your child call a family member and have a conversation over the phone. Having your child do audio calls helps them to learn to focus on what they are hearing.

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In This Section

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In This Section

Listening Readiness

What listening readiness skills should my child have when entering Kindergarten?

Why Is Listening So Important?

How Can I Help My Child Be a Good Listener?

Model good listening to your child by

As you model good listening skills to your child, have your child:

Listening Activities for You and Your Child