Are you looking for interventions for kids that struggle with learning activities that require reading? If so, keep reading.
1. Create an environment that is quiet and tidy (e.g., clean, well-lighted, fresh-smelling, and at a comfortable temperature).
2. Converse with the learner before starting a learning experience and remind them of the importance of listening to others.
3. Provide the learner instructions to follow with no more than two or three steps (e.g., “Please open your text and turn to page 28.”); directions that involve several steps can be confusing and cause the learner to have difficulty following them.
4. Do not criticize when correcting the learner; be honest yet compassionate. Never cause the learner to feel negatively about themselves.
5. Create rules for listening (e.g., listen to instructions, ask questions about instructions if they are not grasped, follow the instructions, etc.). These rules should be consistent and followed by everyone in the class. Talk about the rules often.
6. Provide information in an assortment of ways (e.g., images, diagrams, gestures, etc.) to enable the learner’s capacity and ability to attend.
7. Do not give instructions to the learner from across the room. Go to the learner, get their full attention, and explain the instructions to him/her.
8. Urge the learner to ask for clarification of any directions, explanations, and instructions before starting a task to enable comprehension.
9. Get the learner to ask for help when they need it.
10. Urge the learner to create an understanding of themselves and their surroundings. Train the learner to periodically step back and ask themselves, “Am I listening and paying attention?” “What should I be doing now?”
11. Urge the learner to create an understanding of the consequences of their behavior by writing down or talking through problems that may happen due to their failure to listen for sustained periods (e.g., not focusing on instructions may cause misinterpretation of a task that could lead to a lower grade and losing a place on the soccer team).
12. Urge the learner to say a mantra to themselves when entering a situation where they will receive instructions or information (e.g., listen carefully, listen carefully, listen carefully).
13. Teach the learner listening skills: • Separate working. • Clear desk of nonessential learning materials. • Attend to the source of information. • Jot down essential points. • Ask for clarification. • Wait until all instructions are received before beginning.
14. Assess the difficulty level of information that the learner is required to listen (e.g., information communicated on the learner’s capacity and ability level).
15. Provide instructions in an assortment of ways to enable the learner’s capacity and ability to attend.
16. Let the learner occasionally take tasks home when the class setting is overly distracting.
17. Select a peer, paraprofessional, etc., to signal the learner when they are not listening (e.g., the person can touch the learner’s arm as a signal that they are not focused on the speaker).
18. Assess the visual and auditory stimuli in the classroom and remove or lessen the unnecessary environmental stimuli.
19. Get a peer to give the information that the learner does not hear.
20. Get the learner to take part in practice learning activities designed to create their listening skills (e.g., following one-, two-, or three-step instructions; listening for the main point; etc.).
21. Read this article that we wrote on developing listening comprehension skills.
22. Read this article that we wrote explaining why verbal comprehension skills are important to academic success.
23. Read this article that we wrote on what you should do when your child struggles with verbal comprehension.
