Princess has started speech therapy. She mispronounces her C’s and G’s, and while I think it’s adorable she’s starting to get frustrated with people not understanding her.
So, every week she goes and “plays with Aunt Tara” for 30 minutes while the boys and I sit and wait.
Every week I remind the boys before we head out to pick up something to play with. They’ll pack a small “suitcase” full of Legos, or mini-figures. The picture up above is their colonial action figures and some of our gaming figures.
Then you train them. If they’re not used to playing on their own while waiting, then set timers. Have them play on their own for a few minutes, and then do something with them.
I’m proud to say that I can now take my kids with me into the church office and work on making copies for something for 20 minutes and not worry about them playing with things on people’s desks, or interrupting them.
This wasn’t an immediate result. It took time, and patience, and a lot of reminders. But, I have high expectations for my kids.
I expect them to be able to interact with adults and answer their questions intelligently (and there are times we’re still working on that one).
I expect them to be able to sit at a dinner table with adults and be able to participate or wait patiently. That may mean they need to figure out how to entertain themselves quietly.
I expect them to wait or play in a way that’s appropriate for where they are. If we’re at an office or the library, they are quiet (usually). If we’re at a playscape or playground they can be as loud as the next child.
They are high expectations, but you know what? My kids are happy, and they are loved and they know they are loved. So, I think they’re good expectations.
How is the speech therapy going? C had speech in school for two years. He mispronounced “th” and “er” or “ir”.
She's coming along great. She loves it because it's time alone with “Aunt Tara.”
My kids are pretty good about playing by themselves…we run into trouble with the volume of their play. I like the idea of telling them you can be as loud as the child next to you…so long as it's not one of their siblings 🙂 Juiciness needed speech therapy too. It's worked wonders.
Kelly at Little Wonders' Days
I like that idea, I'll have to remember it.
Love the idea of “training” them with a timer at home. We've done similar things, and Matthew is SO well-behaved at church at the doctor's office… we get compliments all the time, and have since he was 3. I hope this baby will be as easy! 🙂 I love your kids – they just seem so joyful… you are obviously doing a wonderful job with them.
Matthew can't pronounce his “r”s or the “th” sound correctly. I should work with him on this (I had speech for “r” sounds when I was 8)… do you know what age they should be before getting concerned about speech?
I think the “th” sound is around 7 or 8, but don't know for sure.
You bet your kids know they are loved!
🙂
Um, I don't think those are “high” expectations- they are definitely appropriate expectations! Way to go kiddos!
That is awesome that Aunt Tara can be her speech therapist!
I think kids appreciate being held to high expectations!
I think your expectations are quite reasonable, especially since you have built-in playmates. Good luck with speech therapy, how neat that you can engage your friend's services for it.
This is a great post and important topic. I'm just wondering when you started your practice sessions with your kids. I have 2 boys- one is almost 2 1/2 the other is 4. My way of dealing with things tends to be avoid, avoid, avoid… so I have to say, they really haven't been in that many situations where they had to sit still and entertain themselves. Recently, my husband and I considered volunteering for some things at church but they would require us to go to a pre-worship meeting with the kids because the church nursery doesn't open until closer to service times. I'm totally going to practice with them at home. I'm pretty sure it will help my 4 year old but I'm still nervous about the 2 year old. Did you start that early? Any tips?
You can totally start that early, it's starting early that makes it easy now.
I'd start at home with training them to sit on a blanket with a few toys, just start the timer for just a couple of minutes and gradually work it up higher, I'd have a few toys that are only for that time, so it's special. When my boys were 2, I kept some Little People toys and some happy meal type toys that were specially for those types of times. With the 4 year old it's the same strategy, but you can expect more.
Snacks are another thing that can be a big help at that age, heck for me too.
Here's a post I wrote back when the Princess was 2, and the boys were 4, more or less: https://adventuresofmommyness.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-survive-college-graduation-with.html
They stayed in their seats and mostly quiet until my friend graduated, and her last name was Williams, so quite a while.
I'll try and collect my thoughts better and write a better answer and post it, because I'm sure there's others who are thinking the same thing. But, I wanted to get you an answer quickly. I'd totally go for volunteering at church, it'll grow you and your kids so much. You'll love it!
Ticia
I have been struggling on how to teach my kids to sit quietly for an hour each Sunday for our church services. I will have to give this a try.
I have been struggling on how to teach my kids to sit quietly for an hour each Sunday for our church services. I will have to give this a try.
It's worked great for me.