Auditory input: 35 ideas to get you going

Presley is a very visual little girl. She sees it, she remembers it, and she imitates it.  She is four years old and last month, she began taking ballet classes once a week, so I recorded the routines on my phone and she has learned them fairly well this way.  This is great, but she also needs to keep the visual and auditory input balanced.  We have a great neurodevelopmentist, Lyn Waldeck, with NACD.    This is a personalized program with assessments every 4 months.  Lyn is able to assess and monitor Presley and make recommendations whether we are balanced which allows us to move forward in learning.  Children are naturally visual learners in the beginning.  So, we have to work at increasing the auditory input.   One way we do this is to increase our auditory input is by using a recorder like this.  It can be found here on amazon for $29.95.  Some people use the recorder option on their phone.  Another great tip from warrior mom, Jennifer Cannon, was to record on the phone memo, connect to a small portable speaker ($10) and listen a little louder anywhere.  Presley loves getting ahold of my phone and would begin playing with it if she could, so instead she will push play on this recorder and it goes to the next recording.  So, both good easy options.  I put something she likes first, such a song, followed by something factual to keep her guessing.  I try not to use too many things she has memorized visually so that she doesn't just "play the movie in her head". 

 

 

Now on to what information we record. 

 

1.  Animal sounds - real sounds or us saying them really silly or here

2.  Family members full names, addresses, phone numbers, birthdays

3.  Days of the week, months of the year

4.  Colors of the rainbow

5.  Spelling words: cat, dog, mom, fish

6.  Appropriate social interactions "Hi, my name is Presley", "please"....

7.  Opposites

8.  Facts about our state: bird, flower, tree...

9.  Fruits versus vegetables

10. Five senses

11. Record bird's songs. On this one you have to say the name of each.

12. Following directions practice "touch your hair, mouth, eye. s".

13. ABC phonics.

14. Our dance routine songs.

15. Self esteem booster: you are smart, loved... or here is a cute story

16. Speech sounds you may be working on

17. Money values - a penny is worth 1 cent,...

17. Planets (song we like)

17. Math: 

      - counting, skip counting, addition, subtraction, even/odd numbers....

      - youtube videos: addition counting with exercies

      - read your flashcards you are working on

18.  Nursery rhymes:

      - I read her favorite nursery rhyme book

      - you tube videos

19.  Books:

     - Rainbow Fish

     - Hungry Catepillar

     - Ladybug girl

     - Move Over Rover

     - Pete the Cat

     - Strawberry Shortcake

     - Frozen

     - Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (to music though)

     - Disney's 5 minute bedtime stories

     - We also checked out some at the library for my 6 year old read aloud

20.  Music - our favorite to disperse throughout

     - Readeez - super fun and informative. We have four of the CD's, but you can also check out some of the videos here.

     - Let it go 

     - Strawberry shortcake's Anything is Possible, which is our theme song

     - My Little Pony

     - Do Re Mi or the Sound of Music version

     - Elvis Presleys Suspicious Mind is one of Presley's favorites.

     - variety of instrument sounds: example

21.  Spanish words, colors, counting (or any other language)

22.  States/capitols.  Readeez has a great states song, Pledge of allegiance.

23.  Poems  or artists or fun sayings such as:

24.  Facts: animal facts, state facts (Arkansas for us),

25.  Religious information:

       -  Bible Cd from Readeez  

       -  ABC bible verses - we printed these free cards too

       -  Psalms 23

       - Ten Commandment Boogie

       - Right now media has a lot of Christian stories to see and hear

       - The rizers are on Right Now media and on youtube

       - Read stories from a children's bible

       - we recorded our night time prayer too

26.  Colors:  primary (red, yellow, blue), mixing (red & yellow = orange...)

27.  Using manners appropriately.

28.   Vowels, what a verb is, what a noun is....

29.   When to capitalize letters

30.   Letters and their sounds,  words that rhyme

31.   Greater than or less than number examples

32.   Read a small story and explain WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE.... It has been suggested to stick with one initially, such as WHO.   Discuss the morale of the story.

33.  Talk about safety:  crossing the street, looking for cars, holding hands, staying together...

34.  Cardinal directions:  north, south, east, west (they will remember the words when you apply them to a map.

35.  Look for free children's audiobooks or podcasts. 

 

I looked up some of the recommended learning for their grades on our state education website.  They have a "refrigerator" list for parents showing some of the things children are expected to know by grade.   Here are our lists for  Arkansas .   

 

The options are endless.

 

NACD will be starting a lending library soon.  See here for more information.

 

Here is an article about the importance of a good auditory environment.

 

Hope this gives you some ideas for your own child.  These are right for Presley, based on her NACD assessments, so please remember to use what is appropriate for your child and to check with your neurodevelopmentalist if you are on program.

 

Blessings to you and your family,

Robin