Listening vs. Hearing

“Are you listening to me?” This question is often asked because the teachers /speaker think  the listener is nodding off or daydreaming.

 We sometimes think that listening means we only have to sit back, stay barely awake, and let a speaker’s words wash over us. listening is often understood as a “passive” activity. More recently, O, the Oprah Magazine featured a cover article with the title, “How to Talk So People Really Listen

Four Ways to Make Yourself Heard.” This title leads us to expect a list of ways to leave the listening to others and insist that they do so, but the article contains a surprise ending. The final piece of advice is this: “You can’t go wrong by showing interest in what other people say and making them feel important .

 In other words, the better you listen, the more you’ll be listened

You may have heard the adage, “We have two ears but only one mouth”—an easy way to remember that listening can be twice as important as talking. *As a student, you most likely spend many hours in a classroom doing a large amount of focused listening, yet sometimes it is difficult to apply those efforts to communication in other areas of your life

4.1 Listening vs. Hearing

Hearing is an accidental and automatic brain response to sound that requires no effort. We are surrounded by sounds most of the time. For example, we are accustomed to the sounds of airplanes, lawn mowers, furnace blowers, the rattling of pots and pans, and so on. We hear those incidental sounds and, unless we have a reason to do otherwise, we train ourselves to ignore them. We learn to filter out sounds that mean little to us, just as we choose to hear our ringing cell phones and other sounds that are more important to us.

students who develop better listening skills are more likely to feel confident, comfortable, and prepared to succeed in school.

The importance of active listening also branches into social-emotional development.Improved relationship skills. Stronger sense of empathy.

students with strong listening skills don’t just retain more information, but they are also less likely to feel unprepared and frustrated Additionally, improved listening skills can lead to improved self-efficacy, or a student’s belief that they can succeed in class

This means that students who develop better listening skills are more likely to feel confident, comfortable, and prepared to succeed in school.

Learning how to listen can also teach students how to communicate their ideas

This is because students who listen pick up more knowledge to reflect on and think critically about before they respond. Plus, for dual language learners in your class, learning how to listen can help students pick up their second language faster.[6]

Teaching students listening skills leads to lasting advantages in a student’s academic career and beyond, including:

•           Greater ability to communicate

•           Faster second language acquisition

•           Lower levels of frustration, anxiety, and depression

•           Improved relationship skills

•           Stronger sense of empathy

How to Help Students Develop Stronger Active Listening Skills

On average, people listen at about 25% of their potential& in the classroom, teachers often understand that listening is an important skill to have but rarely teach it Clearly, teaching students how to be active listener should be a part of our class curriculum.

Active listening is easiest when there are fewer distractions. Try to limit the number of distracting decorations in your classroom, such as too many posters or large, very bright items. This will not only be helpful for your classroom as a whole but also students with disorders that act as a barrier to active listening and focus, like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

If you have students who struggle to listen in class, multisensory learning and curricula  can be helpful. Multisensory learning involves any activity that engages two or more of the senses (such as sight, hearing, or smell). You could, for example, *sing a song to teach students the names of the solar system planets or have students draw a scene from a book as you read it in class.As you engage several of your students’ senses, they will be better able to listen and comprehend class materials.

And finally, lead by example. Provide students with an opportunity to model active listening skills by holding regular classroom meetings. The subject of these meetings (anything from class policies to recent academic topics) doesn’t matter so much as the structure. Remind students to practice their active listening skills and focus less on making their opinion

INSTEAD OF HEARING DO LISTEN                                                                           Do read the blog and  give your valued opinion to increase  the reading value of this blog

Jai hind

               SOCIAL SKILL  DEVELOPMENT   IN CHILDREN

Social skills, also known as interpersonal skills or soft skills are important for everyone irrespective of age. Human beings are social animals and having strong social skills can help you build and maintain successful relationships both professionally and personally. Social skills in kids are a very important factor. Some kids are naturally more socially-adept than others. Not everyone is born with social skills. It is a skill just like anything else and some kids need some social “tutoring.” Like any skill, social skills in children can be developed and refined with practice, but by helping develop good social and communication skills in a child from their youth, you are equipping them straight away with the skills to build a successful future.

So if you are wondering how to help a child with social skills in life, here are a few ways that you can adapt to help your child develop different facets of this life skill

Be Social Yourself

Always remember that you are your child’s first teacher. He learns whatever he/she sees. You can’t expect your child to develop good social skills out of the blue when you spend most of your time doing chores or relaxing in front of the TV. Social skills in Take your time out and interact with friends and family and slowly your child will start imitating you. If your child continuously watches you swirling into a cocoon shell because you are too shy for conversations, chances are they will start doing the same. When going out or meeting new people, involve them in your conversations. Start by getting them to answer the simple questions which are often asked such as “ *What is your name”?” or “How old are you?” These are some very basic questions but don’t answer them on your child’s behalf. Get your child to say it. *At our school *HASTI PUBLIC SCHOOL*good manners and behaviours are shown to tiny tots

Show, Don’t Tell

Actions speak louder than words. If you want your child to be kind, be kind yourself. Just merely preaching without practicing won’t do any good to your kid. Your behavior speaks volumes, and your children will remember it far more effectively than what you have told them.  If you want them to learn basic etiquettes, show them. For them to be polite, you need to remember saying sorry and thank you to everyone, including your children. By getting very angry or messing up a situation, don’t just behave like it didn’t happen. Rather, when you are calm talk to them and apologize for your behavior and make them understand that your behavior was inappropriate.

Importance Of Eye-contact

Out of many social skills examples in general, making and maintaining eye contact is one of the crucial ones. Encourage your children to look into their eyes while talking. It leads to effective communication and helps build confidence. When you keep eye contact with the person you are talking to it indicates that you are focused and paying attention. It means that you are actually listening to what the person has to say. Many children may have eye-contact anxiety. You may have to put in an extra effort in that case. If your child has such issues, get them to talk to you, maintaining eye contact.

Teach Them To Listen

Listening is a very important tool. Many people don’t listen and they try to jump in before someone finishes his/her statement. If your child does so, teach them to be patient listeners. Before they are good speakers they need to be good listeners. This is the key to building a good relationship.

Teach Them Emotions

A child must be able to identify different emotions to spot social clues. Try playing a game. Get your child to imitate different emotions or show them pictures of different  emotions like joy, anger, disappointment, excitement, mischief, weirdness, nervousness, tiredness, terror, danger, etc and get them to identify. This helps them differentiate emotions and express better, and not get confused when mingling with other kids or people. “To teach them emotions, you need to understand them and you also communicate how you feel.  If they make you mad, make a straight face, and tell them that they are upsetting you, their behavior makes you mad.

Make Them Communicate

Communication is fundamental to children’s development; children need to be able to understand and be understood. Talk to them, ask them how their day was, and never turn away your child when he wants to say something. This may have a very negative influence on them.

Some really good ways to make your child communicate are

Get their toys and make a puppet show, show them how conversations are made if your child is socially anxious.

Roleplay- If your child is going to be in a new environment, roleplay with him how he is going to meet new people and start a conversation. You can start with basic questions and get your kids to answer them.

If you have elders at home, they can be very helpful in building confidence in your kid.

Give Them Environment

Get your child comfortable so that he can freely express himself. If your child is socially anxious help them get comfortable by striking a conversation and then slowly getting them into the conversation. Don’t just leave them alone saying they need to learn it themselves, take one step at a time. Give your child the chance to meet with different people, the variety in people may help them know things differently and get them to adjust better in situations. Playschools, playgrounds, and hobby classes will give them a chance to socialize.

Teach Them About Personal Space

Everyone feels more comfortable when the person they are with, respects their personal space.  Some children may come up and sit in your lap, hug you without permission, touch your hair, play with your necklace, touch a design on your shirt, or touch your body without permission, sometimes in inappropriate places. Teach them not to invade someone’s personal space. Everyone has their own “space bubble”.

You may come across many other lists of social skills to teach but they all are important and address different areas of life.                      

 I THINK THIS WOULD HELP WE TEACHERS  AND PARENTS IN DEVELOPING SOCIAL SKILLS IN OUR TINY TOTS.PLEASE FEEL FREE TO POUR  YOUR SUGGESTIONS AND FEED BACK THIS MAY HELP ME IN IMPROVING .PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO SUGGEST ME THE NEW TOPIC                                                                                                        

THANKS FOR READING        

*HASTI PUBLIC SCHOOL & JR.COLLEGE* , *DONDAICHA*    ,                                                                                                                   *BLOIG NO.140*

*Why Offering Your Child The Freedom To Make Mistakes Is Essential* ?

*At our Hasti school  we  strongly believe*  that *In education, learning without experiencing mistakes and failures is almost impossible* , ironically our education system is fundamentally based on the idea that *everything that is not perfect is a mistake*.

*At our Hasti School we give freedom to children  make mistakes and we advice to the parents to give this freedom of making mistake to their children  *This may seem like a counterintuitive parenting strategy *, but letting your child make mistakes is one of the best things you can do for them. *Watching your child struggle or fail at something may be difficult, but it’s important to remember that making mistakes is a crucial part of learning and growing*.

*Imagine someone who is just learning to walk.   *when you learn to walk, you just fall over a lot. There is a lot of ‘failure’ in learning to walk* because *not being perfect from the start is what any kind of learning is all about* .

*Learning without the freedom to make mistakes can feel like walking on a tightrope above a shark tank*, There is  huge amount of stress, anxiety, fear and mental health issues students experience ..

*Is it okay for kids to make any or only specific mistakes* ?

Well, it depends on the child’s age, maturity level, and the severity of the mistake. For example, it might not be a good idea to let a very young child play with matches, but it could be okay for an older child to make a small mistake like spilling milk.

Why is it okay for kids to make mistakes?

Here are some of the reasons why it’s essential to let your child make mistakes:

1. *It helps them learn from experience*.

One of the best ways for kids to learn is through experience. If they’re never allowed to make mistakes, they’ll never have the opportunity to learn from them. Creating and correcting errors is a crucial part of the learning process.

2.*It allows them to explore their independence*.

Making mistakes is a natural part of becoming independent. As kids grow up, they’ll need to learn how to make decisions on their own. If you’re always there to catch them when they fall, they may never know how to stand on their own two feet.

3. *It builds their character*.

Making and then owning up to their mistakes can be a valuable character-building experience for kids. It teaches them responsibility, accountability, and how to deal with the consequences of their actions.

4. *It helps them develop a growth mindset*.

Creating a “growth mindset” in kids—the belief that their intelligence and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching, and perseverance—is one of the best things you can do to succeed in school and life. Allowing them to struggle with new challenges and make mistakes is one way to help them develop this mindset.

5. *It shows them that you trust them*.

When you allow your kids to make mistakes and take risks, it sends the message that you trust them to handle whatever comes their way. This builds their confidence and self-esteem, which will help them in all areas of their life.

*The takeaway is this: we should allow our children to make mistakes. Of course, some boundaries and lines shouldn’t be crossed,* but allowing them to explore and learn from their own experiences is integral to helping them grow into successful adults.