choosing and learning a language 71
Basic thinking skills and language
As they learn language, children organize their thoughts and make
connections between different ideas:
• how an object, person, or
event causes something else
to happen.
If I find wood
for the fire,
then Mama can
cook dinner.
• how to solve problems.
I can reach
the ball if I
use a stick.
• how to order things
one after the another.
First I add the
egg. Then I mix in
flour to make the
dough sticky.
• how to count.
Papa is
working
tonight, so we
need only
4 plates.
• how to identify categories of
objects — to learn that one
word can mean different
things, and several words can
mean the same thing.
This is a
pineapple, that
is a mango.
Both are kinds
of fruit.
• how to describe what a person
is feeling and why she is
feeling that way.
Mama is
worried
because
Magda is
so sick.
It is important that learning language becomes a part of the life of a
child who is deaf or cannot hear well. Parents, community workers, and
teachers must encourage children to learn and to use a language to
express themselves, to communicate with others, and to develop their
mental abilities.
Helping Children Who Are Deaf (2004)