Supporting children’s learning through enhanced communication support – Early Years – Cognition and Learning
Last Updated - March 7, 2024
Supporting children’s learning through enhanced communication support – Early Years – Cognition and Learning
Keep activities short and successful to help build the child’s attention skills and self-esteem. Practise completing short outcome-focussed activities through having a ‘Special Time’ play session with the child on a regular basis. Use a picture sequence choice board showing each activity to be completed in turn.
Teach the concept of ‘finished’ by using a picture prompt and Makaton sign for ‘finished’. If using pictures to show a sequence, place the picture in a ‘finished box’ as each activity is completed.
Create plenty of different low arousal spaces in your playrooms and outside so that these areas do not become ‘pinch points’ with lots of children. Vary colours, textures, heights etc to create cosy, safe spaces. These spaces will then support children’s focus of attention and enable emotional refuelling.
When supporting children’s Speech, Language and Communication (SLC), pause for spaces in song and rhyme for the child to fill in. Giving children this processing time, motivate the child to verbalise at their own pace.
Create personal books using photos of the child’s family and favourite objects. Either make homemade books or use commercial companies such as PhotoBox which can produce board books at a minimal cost.
