Follow Me to Better Language and Learning!
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It has been a great year thus far in speech and language services! We have been working diligently on improving our speech and language skills. One particular skill being targeted by many students is following directions. Following directions typically varies between 1-step to 3-steps, with and without visual supports in most language sessions. One can add complexity easily to these tasks simply by making them require writing, moving, talking, or all three!
Think about the direction, “Circle the middle item and underline the last item on the line on the page”. A child’s brain must process the entire sentence, visually scan the worksheet, orient from the left-to-right, retrieve knowledge of temporal concepts (middle/last), retrieve knowledge of how to form a “circle” around and “underline” an item, and then coordinate language skills, working memory skills, visual-spatial skills, and fine-motor skills to deliver the answer correctly. They then self-monitor their performance to see if they did it correctly, trying to recall all the steps once more. That is some real cognitive load for a child!
Following directions is like a brain push-up! So, don’t forget to give some hard-earned high-fives to your child when they successfully follow directions in your home or community. Following directions keep a child’s mind challenged and expanding, while also developing an important skill for life😊
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