Face watching for Feedback:
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Once our child is allowing themselves time to be calm they will explore, looking at things in their hands, wondering what happens if they press something, pretending something is something else, climbing up on things in the play park etc. Whilst they are doing this, they won't look, because they are concentrating.
Then when they want help, to include you or to find out something they will look |
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That's when we smile, nod and say a word.
In having silence they have had the chance to organise their thoughts and actions (probably like a video in their head). They will then invite us (with their eyes) to give them a word for what they are thinking
By us giving a word at that moment they can then see exactly how to say the word whilst hearing the specific sounds that go with that lip shape. This helps them to see and hear the tiny difference between words e.g. 'thin' and 'pin'. As they hear the words they see our faces light up, getting reassurance, and feedback.
If they are making sounds but they don't sound anything like real words - that doesn't matter, the great thing is that they are making sounds.
We then shape the sound they have just thrown out to us by nodding and saying what we know they are trying to say - back (recasting).
With every try they make (and recast they are given) they will gradually get closer and closer to the adult word because they are getting clear support and feedback at the moment they need it. It doesn't matter that it is not clear- we know what they are trying to say.
Whilst face -watching they are also reading our feelings, emotions and getting reassurance that trying is just what we want. With every sound they make they are exercising their talking muscles (their lungs, their vocal folds, their tongue, lips and teeth) and every time they do it, like any muscle, their voice and sound system gets stronger and stronger and more precise, each trial getting closer and closer to the word.
They are also getting feedback on the melody and number of beats in a word. The bones in their head are also feeding back to their brain how making this word feels for next time.
Repair
In the first weeks of VERVE each child learns to look up just to get words.
Over the weeks as they pattern to face watch and see our mouths and faces move so they wish to watch faces for longer. They try a word out, watch to see if the other person has understood and if they haven't our child corrects the adult by having another try. They keep going until the adult has understood. In this way they learn to read others, to persevere with their meaning and to repair communication if it breaks down.
In having silence they have had the chance to organise their thoughts and actions (probably like a video in their head). They will then invite us (with their eyes) to give them a word for what they are thinking
By us giving a word at that moment they can then see exactly how to say the word whilst hearing the specific sounds that go with that lip shape. This helps them to see and hear the tiny difference between words e.g. 'thin' and 'pin'. As they hear the words they see our faces light up, getting reassurance, and feedback.
If they are making sounds but they don't sound anything like real words - that doesn't matter, the great thing is that they are making sounds.
We then shape the sound they have just thrown out to us by nodding and saying what we know they are trying to say - back (recasting).
With every try they make (and recast they are given) they will gradually get closer and closer to the adult word because they are getting clear support and feedback at the moment they need it. It doesn't matter that it is not clear- we know what they are trying to say.
Whilst face -watching they are also reading our feelings, emotions and getting reassurance that trying is just what we want. With every sound they make they are exercising their talking muscles (their lungs, their vocal folds, their tongue, lips and teeth) and every time they do it, like any muscle, their voice and sound system gets stronger and stronger and more precise, each trial getting closer and closer to the word.
They are also getting feedback on the melody and number of beats in a word. The bones in their head are also feeding back to their brain how making this word feels for next time.
Repair
In the first weeks of VERVE each child learns to look up just to get words.
Over the weeks as they pattern to face watch and see our mouths and faces move so they wish to watch faces for longer. They try a word out, watch to see if the other person has understood and if they haven't our child corrects the adult by having another try. They keep going until the adult has understood. In this way they learn to read others, to persevere with their meaning and to repair communication if it breaks down.