CHILD-to-child 447
ACTIVITY:
LET’S FIND OUT HOW WELL CHILDREN SEE AND HEAR
Background discussion
Some children cannot see or hear as well as other children. Often we do not know
about this and the child says nothing. But because the child does not hear the teacher
or see the blackboard, he may not learn as quickly as others. So he may try to hide in
a corner. We can help him by letting him sit close to the teacher.
Also, babies who cannot hear well do not learn to talk or understand as early as
others.
In this activity, the school children try to find out which young children and babies do
not see or hear well, and need help.
HELPING CHILDREN UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM
One way to get children thinking about these problems is to ask questions like:
• Do you know anybody who does not see or hear well?
• Do you act differently with these people? Why?
• How would you feel if you did not see well? Or hear well?
Games to help children understand the difficulties of poor hearing
GAME: LISTEN LISTEN
All the children are
completely silent for 3 minutes.
They listen very carefully
to the noises around them.
Afterwards, they write down or
draw everything they heard.
GAME: WHAT DID YOU SAY?
One child plugs his ears while another tells a funny story to the group. Then one of
the children plays ‘teacher’ and asks everyone, including the child who had his ears
plugged, to answer questions about the story. Finally, they ask him what it felt like, not
being able to hear the story well.
Ask the children what they can do to help a child to hear better. Their suggestions
might include:
• Have the child sit ‘up front’ close to the teacher.
• Everyone can take care to speak slow, clear, and loud (but do not shout).
• Use gestures or ‘sign language’ (if the child hears very little or not at all).
• Watch people’s mouths and try to understand what they say. This is not easy if you
do not hear the words. Have the children try it.
disabled village children