TDA 3.1 2.1

2.1 – Explain the skills needed to communicate with children and young people e.g. make time to speak, use eye contact.

There are a number of skills need to communicate effectively with children and young people. It is important we act as

good role models in order to support children in developing their communication skills.

Children should be given ample opportunities to speak. We should always attentively listen to what a child is saying.

We should be understanding to each child needs, some children are a lot more confident at engaging with children of

their own age and with adults. We should try to give children that are lacking confidence time to adjust to their settings.

We can do this by making them feel welcome in the classroom.

We should always make eye contact when engaging in conversation with children. We should give them our full

attention by bending down so we are at the same level when we are speaking and listening to them. This helps to build

positive relationships with children. If we did not engage eye contact with the child, they may think we are not listening

to them and this make them less confident when communicating with adults.

We should use the appropriate body language, facial expressions and be approachable. We should make sure we smile

and react in a positive way when communicating with a child, these actions will help to boost the Childs self-esteem

and are likely to become more confident in developing their communication skills. Our body language should be

relaxed and we should speak calmly. Aggressive body language and harsh tone of voice may cause a child to be afraid

or defensive.

When talking to a child we need to be aware they are still developing their speaking and listen skills and do not always

use the correct language. This means sometimes we need to repeat what the child has said using the correct form of

English. This helps the child to understand how they