62 listening skills
ACTIVITIES
Ways to help your child notice sounds
• When you hear a sound
nearby, show your child that
something is happening.
Encourage her to look
toward the sound.
Look, Sayaka, up
in the sky! It’s an
airplane.
• Let your child play with toys that
make noise. From time to time, call
her attention to the sound. If the
toys do not make a lot of noise, tie
something that makes noise, like a
bell, onto the toy.
That’s a loud
noise, Radha!
• Find sounds you can start and stop.
Let your child know that something
is about to happen and then make the sound. Repeat the sound
several times. Try pointing to your ear when a sound is made. This
will help your child know when a sound is made.
• Make up games in which your child needs to listen to sounds in
order to play.
While they hear the
drum, the children
dance.
When the music
stops, everyone
falls down.
Some adults are not used to playing and may feel uncomfortable
joining in activities with children. But music can help your child
learn to use her hearing, and is a good way to involve other adults
and children. Think of the songs you sang as a child, or learn songs
that other children know. Choose songs that are happy, that have
a nice rhythm, and that everybody can sing together. Adults and
children can all be included. Make singing an everyday family
activity.
Helping Children Who Are Deaf (2004)