Why Seeing Language is Vital to Comprehension and the Questions to Ask

When you and your child need a reminder of why you are asking so many questions about what they see as they read or how they imagine following directions, consider the following example. (Please note, as surely as they will tire of your questions, you may begin to wane on your diligence to ensure their vivid visualization.)

Example:

If I say “I will bring you ice cream of your choosing. What would you like me to bring?” (For the sake of this example, let’s pretend you like ice cream even if you do not.)

Response, of most children: Oh! Oh! Chocolate! Some say strawberry or butter pecan.

If I brought the flavor of you’re choosing in a sample spoon, would that match your idea of what I would bring to you? Perhaps you imagined that I would bring a double or triple scoop in a sugar cone. Maybe you prefer a waffle cone. Maybe a half gallon of ice cream would have met your expectation or a gallon even.

In order for us to communicate what we see in our minds, we must be detailed according to necessity; otherwise we leave it to interpretation for the other person to see what they want to see.

Sure, I could have given the correct image from the start by saying, “I will bring you a sample spoonful of ice cream of your choosing,” so it becomes necessary to include certain details of our thoughts in order to shape the images of those to whom we are speaking – so they can see what we are saying.

This example works well for children to understand that what is envisioned in the imagination of one is not necessary seen in the mind of another without certain detail. This reminder often bears repeating when they begin to tire of the “But what does that look like to you line of questioning.”

To avoid bringing your practice time to a quick, frustrating end, integrate a bit of gesturing and play acting into the description process. Then questions like how big am I, what colors am I wearing, what do I see around me, how do you see what I am feeling, do you hear a sound I am making, etc.

Until your child gets the hang of it you may need to help them with the descriptions.

Example: Your child says, “I see you flying like a bird.”

Well, that is a great simile, but what does that look like? Am I flapping my arms or are they straight out like I am soaring? What kind of bird do I look like? Am I small with a long beak like a hummingbird or am I large with sharp talons like an eagle? Can I see the land or water below or am I too high to see below the clouds? Is the sun rising, setting or high in the sky or are the stars twinkling above?

Depending on the temperament of your child and their degree of language processing weakness, you may find that less, but more directly pointed questions is an effective start to improving her word to picture associations.

Once you are sure that your child is visualizing, the next step is to help him use those images to improve his critical thinking.