Don’t panic when your child does not pay attention to what you say, follow these simple tips to make them listen to you.
Never be repetitive
Repeating what you want to convey to the child again and again will not help. The children get used to it, they start ignoring the parents. They may start regarding your voice as a noise from across the street. The best way is to instruct the child not more than twice and be clear about the consequences of not listening.
For example if you ask your child to put back the toys in the toy bag and keep it back in the toy cabinet. If the child listens to your command in the first go, there is no need to talk about any consequences of not following your command. Otherwise, say it again now with the effect of not listening to you.
Like if, he doesn’t put back the toys in the bag and then in the closet right now, he would not be allowed to play with them for the entire day. Make the child realize that you are serious about what you say, like if the child is not still complying, take away the toys immediately and inform him that he won’t be able to play with them the entire day.
Inculcating a habit of listening
You will have to be patient about this, children get tired of listening all day, from parents to teachers they have to listen to a lot of instructions. To enhance their listening skills, make listening fun for them.
Take the child on a beach or a garden and make him listen to the sounds around. Like the wind, water, insects or birds, this would bring the child close to the nature as well. Getting close to the nature is a way of calming our mind, and this would help them throughout their lifetimes. Making the child listen to soft music and then explaining to them the meaning of the song will spark an interest in listening in them.
Be certain that the child heard you
You may come across a situation when your child may say that he did not listen to you. The best thing that you can do to make sure that your child heard you is to make him repeat what you said. Another way is to use your body language to convey to the child more effectively.
Talking to him while looking in his eyes and putting your hands on his shoulders can be helpful in engaging the child. This way the attention of the child will be drawn completely to you. Experts believe that using body language is a more effect way to communicate.
The reward scheme
People have different opinions about rewarding a child for listening to their parents. Some find it an effective way to make the child attentive, while others think that the children would get habitual to it. Until the time a ‘bribe’ is not offered to them, they would not listen. So, what exactly should be done?
Instead of giving your child a reward in terms of a physical gift or an item to eat, offer to participate in an activity in which the child would enjoy. Like visiting, the zoo, museum, an amusement park or trekking, dancing together and so on. You can keep a monthly objective to be accomplished by the child, which would entitle him for a reward.
Remember to not keep repeating yourself, how you can grab the attention of the child and then reward him for the accomplishments.
