Yellow Door LE3017 Supporting Quiet Children: Exciting Ideas and Activities to Help 'Reluctant Talkers' Become 'Confident Talkers'

Good resource

Excellence resource that can be used by the whole school.

Bought this kinda knowing it was written for teachers. Read it in half an hour and then gave it to my kids teacher as most of these activities are pretty obvious and aimed at a big group. Teacher said some nice ideas in it, but still to see if any of them are put in use.The quality of the book is really bad. Bunch of photocopies with spiral binding.. I mean I could format this better with a basic piece of software.I did feel a bit ripped off

This book provides really clearly written, well explained activities, which encourage a child to want to share talk. The role of the adult is clearly explained and many helpful tips are provided in how to set up and manage the activities to ensure they will be comfortable and appropriate for children who are developing the confidence to share talk with other children or adults.The activities are explained in a conversational style under clear headings, with supportive comments for the reader about how to make best use of the activity.

This illustrated book is particularly useful for both professionals and parents who want to support and encourage quiet children to engage in and share activities and conversations in a positive environment. The book starts with a summary of how children usually learn to talk confidently. There is a useful section which lists a few reasons why children can seem quiet and a discussion of self esteem and confidence issues. Page 4 has a useful list of what reluctant talkers need. With plenty of help and advice about how we as adults can influence the quiet children around us and also lots of wonderful ideas for engaging children with very simple yet specific exercises, projects and games that children are bound to enjoy, this book does seem to hit the mark for professionals and parents who want a resource at their fingertips that takes the whole child into consideration.Barbara Allen-WilliamsNational Centre for High SensitivityHampshire, UK

This book explains very clearly about reluctant talkers and how they might feel and has a large amount of practical activities that both parents and professionals can implement to support children to become confident talkers.Important messages about how all adults involved with the child need the same positive attitude are given throughout the book. The examples of positive ways to phrase things about the child and to the child are really helpful.I have met many professionals who only want to do their best to get to know a child and to encourage them to talk but do so by asking the child direct questions. I found the advice about talking indirectly to the child through the familiar adult whom the child usually feels comfortable to talk to particularly useful and have been sharing this advice with others. The 'all about me' boxes (page 18) are a brilliant idea that I have seen working in practice.This book is an easy read, simply to follow and a great resource for parents and professionals.

Almost every nursery or reception class will have one or more children who are either nor talking or not saying very much. It's often very difficult for staff to decide if there is a specific problem or whether they are just shy. They might worry that Selective Mutism could be the problem or have they got under-lying receptive or expressive language issues. How can they un-lock their ideas and opinions or work out where to place them on assessments? Some feel a firm hand is required while others may just tip-toe around.At last, they have a resource which will help and inspire. It gives insights into why some children are confident talkers at home but quiet or even silent at nursery. It looks at how anxiety can play a part and how to make children feel more comfortable.They discuss the issue of `quiet' children, ones who are just shy, those with high sensitivity and those who are learning English as a second language, as current research confirms that they will probably go through a silent phase too.The book, as it says, doesn't want to make quiet children noisy but looks at building foundations for developing confidence. Confidence is the key to any successful communication in adults as well as in children.There are over 40 activities to try, each with an explanation of how the activity will help. These can benefit all children. Some are strategies which can be used to create a positive and supportive atmosphere while others can be slotted in throughout the day or incorporated into group-time.I would recommend this book to any practitioners who have a quiet child in their group and also those who haven't ...... because sooner or later they will have, and this will provide all the suggestions they need. It is also good for speech and language therapists to be able to suggest to schools an nurseries.Libby Hill, Consultant Speech and Language Therapist, Small Talk and Smart Talkers Pre-school communication groups