To follow on from her article last month on teaching your child to listen, Kath Denholm from Little Geniuses discusses how to teach your child to differentiate between critical and non-critical information.
Is everything that one hears important? If a child answers yes, one needs to explain to him that if he had to listen to everything, his poor brain would explode!
Critical Information
Only some information is CRITICAL. Critter what, your child may ask. CRIT-I-CAL. Clap the syllables for him. You can introduce your child to this term from as young as three years old. Critical information is the IMPORTANT information that one hears. If one does not hear it, then there will be a consequence. Once you have explained CRITICAL INFORMATION, you can introduce the term NON-CRITICAL.
How do I Teach my Child to Identify Critical and Non-Critical Information?
I worked with an 11-year-old child recently who was battling with his exams and studying. He had no idea what information was critical and what information was non-critical. One way to teach a child critical and non-critical information is to play a game. I call it the CRITICAL INFORMATION game. Present him with information and ask him if he thinks it is critical or noncritical. My four-year-old can tell you what information is critical and non-critical. This skill helps with listening at home and in the classroom.
Some examples you can give your child:
1. Your friend gives directions to his house (this is obviously very critical. If you do not listen, you will get lost).
2. Dad has an itchy bum (as you know kids love toilet humour so the odd non-critical one like this keeps a potentially boring game interesting). This piece of information is non-critical.
3. Your teacher tells you that you have a test on Thursday (this is obviously very critical. If you do not listen, you will not study for the test).
When can I teach my child to identify critical and non-critical information?
“I have four children whose needs are vastly different, a husband, a job and, and, and…” Yes! Time is a rare entity these days. The good news is you need not set aside a specific time for this. You can incorporate it in everyday living.
Three practical examples of times when you can incorporate this teaching
1. In the car: this is where I do most of my teaching.
2. At mealtimes: while eating, the family can play the critical and non-critical information game.
3. During bath time: while bathing, the children can play the critical and non-critical information game with you.
The World Health Organisation has recently issued new guidelines on screen time, which you can read on their website. Our children are living in a world where they are overloaded with information, from a very young age. The younger they can identify critical information and non-critical information the better!
By Kath Denholm.
Kath Denholm is a speech therapist who has worked in London, private practices in Cape Town and KZN and taught at Livingstone Remedial School for three years. She is the owner and founder of Little Genius Puppets, an online educational programme teaching young children to identify key information and take it to long-term memory.
Visit her website for more information.