Interrupting Others
Children who have the unacceptable habit of interrupting others when they are speaking, are developing problems as they grow older . A child who interrupts others is usually tolerated within families, but this type of habit can cause difficulties at school or when they are with their peers. Friends may simply find it annoying, but at school, children are expected to request permission to speak and then to wait until permission is given.
Taking turns is an important skill
Whatever the reason behind the interrupting habit, your focus should not be on the habit but on your child learning the skill of indicating that they want to say something, and then on how to wait patiently until permission to speak is given. All humans have to learn this skill in order to enjoy good communication with others.
Whatever the reason behind the interrupting habit, your focus should not be on the habit but on your child learning the skill of indicating that they want to say something, and then on how to wait patiently until permission to speak is given.
A learnable skill
Your child can learn this skill with the help of the Kids’Skills steps. Encourage him to give the skill a name, help him see the benefits of acquiring this new skill, and recruit other people who can help him to learn it. One girl who exhibited this bad habit, was inspired by the music we often have to listen to after reaching a call center and being put on hold. She gave her new skill the name “Waiting tone”.
Talking stick
Exercises or games for learning how to take turns at speaking are easy to invent. “The Talking Stick” is an ancient game known in many cultures. In this, if you want to speak, you have to be holding a specific object such as a special piece of wood or stone, or maybe a rare shell. When someone else in your group wants to say something, they have to request the object and can only speak when they are holding it, ensuring that only one participant is speaking at any time. Games like this teach children to be patient, to listen to others, and about taking turns.
Possible skills
- the skill of requesting permission to talk
- the skill of waiting patiently for your turn to speak
- the skill of using gestures or signs to indicate that you wish to speak
- the skill of writing down what you want to say in order to be able to remember it when you get the opportunity to speak
This article is owned by: Kids’Skills https://www.kidsskills.org/WP-fin/
