Observing Communication

Provide an account of your observation

The other day I was in WalMart, during some shopping, I overheard a child was trying to persuade his mother to buy a new toy. The child was telling his mother that he will clean his room and do his homework for school. I could tell the mother looked at her child, she was surprised and happy that her child was offering to do this so that he could get a new toy.

What I noticed is that the mother was listening at what her son was talking about without interrupting him. According to our video: Communication with Young Children (2012), it is important to listen to children without interrupting what they are telling us. When the mother told the child in a soft voice that she did not have enough money to buy the toy today, but she will come back tommorrow to buy the toy. The child did not seem upset instead he smiled and said "thank you." The mother and child went to the counter to check out.

I believe the mother and child communicated very effectively with each other. Both of them listen effectively, used eye contact, and they both respected and accepted each other. The communication interaction affected the child in a positive way because the child did not get the toy that day, but he thanked his mother anyway. She told the child,"she will buy the game the next day."

After observing the mother and child, I learned that it is important to provide respect and listen to children without interrupting them. Now, I know this is important because doing this will give the children time to respond with comments of their own. This week assignment taught me a lot about ways of communicating with young children.