5 Tips to Help Your Child With a Hearing Implant at School

1. Pre-Teaching Vocabulary

Ask your child’s teacher what themes or topics the class will be learning about this school term. It could be a particular book, geographical location, or historical event. Talk with your child about these topics so they begin to learn the key words that will be used in the classroom. Borrow books from the library or look at videos and pages on the internet together with your child to learn the key words for these topics. If your child knows and understands the key words, they will be more likely to follow along with discussions and lessons and be able to complete activities.

2. Using the Ling 6 Sound Test

Complete the Ling 6 Sound Test before school to make sure your child can hear well and is ready to learn. By ensuring your child’s cochlear implant is giving them access to all the sounds they need to hear, you can start the school day off on the right foot. The Ling 6 Sound Cards may help you structure this activity as you incorporate it into your child’s morning routine.

3. Teaching Conversation Strategies

When there is background noise, listening to the teacher or having conversations with classmates can be difficult, especially for children with hearing implants. Teach your child that it’s good to ask for something to be repeated when they are unsure what was said by asking, “Can you say that again please?” Or they can check that they heard something correctly by repeating what was said: “Did you say…?” Modeling such requests and encouraging your child to use these strategies at home will help them use these phrases confidently in the classroom.

4. Monitoring Development

To monitor your child’s acquisition of communication skills or find out what skills your child should be developing next, download the app A Child’s Journey (for tablets and iPads only). This app lists developmental milestones in a range of domains for children ages 0 to 6 years old. When looking at this app, remember that your child’s hearing age is the time they have been listening with their hearing implant. Your child’s skills may be more aligned with their hearing age than with their chronological age.

5. Practicing Skills at Home

If you are looking for activities and games with a focus on listening and language skills to play with your child at home, download our Lesson Kits. These offer a range of stories and activities with a variety of themes (Animals, Transport, The Zoo, Nature, The Ocean, and many more) that you can use at home to teach many concepts. Here is one example of how you can use one of the Lesson Kit activities with your child.

With these tips, your child can feel confident and prepared to do well in school. Preparing at home can make a world of difference in the classroom. And it’s never too late to start trying out new strategies to make learning easier for your child.