Affirming Communication

This week I was able to spend some time with my friend Kim and her two young boys. Garyson is two years old, and Nolan is four months old. I went to see them at their house and we were outside enjoying the nice weather for most of my visit.

            

Garyson is a busy-body and always on the go. He loves to share what he is doing with Mom especially, which can be frustrating to her when she is trying to visit with a friend. On this particular day, Garyson was playing with some of his trucks. He came up to Kim and grabbed her hand and said, “Mom, you come.” He wanted her to come and look at his truck. She was in the middle of talking, so he said this a few times before she answered. When she did answer, she told him not now and that she was talking. This upset him and he threw himself down onto the deck and started to cry.

            

“When you ignore babies, you tell them they are not valued,” (Kovach & Da Ros-Voseles, 2011). In order to make the communication more affirming and effective, Kim could have said excuse me to me, and listened to what Garyson had to say the first time he pulled her hand and started speaking. Then, she could have told him “I would love to see your truck, but I’m talking to Melanie right now. How about you bring it over here and show both of us!” “Babies need to be part of the communication process. When you communicate with babies, it validates their self-worth. They will also have a better chance to understand what is occurring,” (Kovach & Da Ros-Voseles, 2011).

           

As a teacher, with 22 students always wanting my attention, it can get overwhelming and frustrating to try and listen to all of them at once. I am sure I am guilty of invalidating a child’s self-worth at some point or another. It is important for me, moving forward, to take time to step back and listen to what my students are really trying to tell me in order to have effective communication with them.

Reference

Kovach, B., & Da Ros-Voseles, D. (2011). Communicating with babies. YC: Young

Children, 66(2), 48-50. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database. http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=60001533&site=ehost-live&scope=site