How Children Display Themselves

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Ann Kennedy and on behalf of Expert Village, I'm here to talk to you about understanding the nature of reading. Displays by children. Never ever ever ever expect a whole lot. When your child is scribbling, that's just as important as later when he draws and writes. Your expectations are critical to his or her development. Everything they do, as I said in the beginning, don't expect a whole lot. Scribbles are a whole lot and they're a wonderful thing and that gives them the initiative and motivation to learn so even scribbling should be said, that's a wonderful job that you did. Display their work. It's one of the most important things we can do to build self esteem and self confidence. This is, let's say scribbles by a child and you may see it as nothing or scribbles but you have the opportunity now to talk to your child and say, could you tell me a little bit about it? See what your child is thinking and hearing and what would you like to call it? What I like to do with scribbles and what I tell parents to do is get another sheet of paper out and let the child witness you writing. For example, what would you like to call it? And what he called it was a fun day at the lake. It doesn't look like a fun day at the lake to you or I but to the child it does so then you would simply write over here A Fun, and you say it as you write it, Day, and you continue, At The Lake, along with his picture. And here, tell me about the picture. And he may tell you a little bit more but you've written a fun day at the lake and he had a good time, does it stop there? No. You say, you know, I like that so much and we had such a wonderful day, let's go ahead and put it on the refrigerator for a few days and look at it. That helps. All of a sudden his work is being displayed. You've also helped with creative and critical thinking and they want to enhance their work. And then on Friday you may do the same thing. You have several pictures and you say let's choose a picture to display and then when you pull down a picture, put it in a save folder, don't ever let your child see you say okay, well we're done with that picture and throw it in the garbage can. Never ever do that. Have a save folder. Later down the road is when you both will choose which pictures to finally say it's time to put them somewhere else. So that's the importance of displays by children."