When letting your child carry out routines, use simple language for one-step directions. Acknowledge your child’s responses and actions.
Talking to children during daily caregiving routines helps them acquire listening, comprehension and communication skills. Girolametto, L., & Weitzman, E. (2002). Responsiveness of Child Care Providers in Interactions With Toddlers and Preschoolers. Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools, 33(4), 268–281. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2002/022) Girolametto, L., Weitzman, E., & Greenberg, J. (2006). Facilitating language skills: Inservice education for early childhood educators and preschool teachers. Infants & Young Children, 19, 36–46. Honig, A. ed. (2014). Fostering Early Language with Infants and Toddlers. Montessori Life, 26(2), 28–31. Degotardi, S., Torr, J., & Nguyen, N. T. (2016). Infant–toddler Educators’ Language Support Practices during Snack-time. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 41(4), 52–62. Degotardi, S., Han, F., & Torr, J. (2018). Infants’ experience with ‘near and clear’ educator talk: individual variation and its relationship to indicators of quality. International Journal of Early Years Education, 26(3), 278-294. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2018.1479632
Children’s receptive skills may not yet be fully developed. As such, long instructions may be overwhelming and cause children to stop listening. Build children's confidence by scaffolding their “listening and understanding” by using simple one-step instructions, acknowledging their efforts to carry out the instructions and communicating.