Non-compliance is when an individual refuses to follow the given directions or the guidance of someone else. This can be passive non-compliance (ignoring) or active non-compliance (whining, crying, becoming self-injurious). The important question: Is this non-compliance deliberate or just due to a lack of understanding, or motivation?

WHAT CAN YOU DO IF YOUR PRESCHOOLER STRUGGLES WITH THIS?

1. Give clear, simple instructions

   Instead of: “We are going out. You need to stop playing and put away the toys now!”
   Try saying: “Time’s up! Let’s put away the toys.”

   To help your child understand this, you can hold his or her hand and begin carrying out the task.

2. Avoid repeating instructions
   

   If your child did not listen to your instructions, repeating the phrase “Keep the toys.” will only reinforce his or her non-compliance. It tells your child that listening to your instruction is not essential.

3. Give feedback when your child does not listen
   

   Instead of repeating the instruction, let your child know that his or her behaviour is not right by pointing out what was not done (e.g. “You did not put the toy away.”)

WHAT ARE SOME ADDITIONAL THINGS YOU CAN DO?

• POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT: When an assigned task is completed, praise your child for his or her effort. Try saying, “Good job! You put the toys away!” To reinforce this technique, you can also consider giving rewards (e.g. a snack, extra play time, points if you have a reward system) as motivation. Extrinsic rewards, however, should eventually be phased out as your child gets better with following instructions.
• BE CONSISTENT: When it comes to expectations and consequences, do not alter the rules or make exceptions (even when you are not at home) as this can be confusing for your child. Remember, always follow through with your reward or consequence.

One of the most important skills we learn in preschool is our pencil grip. If this is something your child struggles with, early intervention is very important to prevent difficulty in writing or drawing in later years.

Here are the different stages of a preschool child’s pencil grip:

Hand dominance fully develops when children are around the age of 4–5 years old. If preschoolers are not holding their pencils with a tripod grasp, it could be because they have gotten into the habit of grasping their pencil the wrong way, have weak hand strength, or perhaps, suffer from a lack of practice.

However, the challenge here is that most children hate it when adults try to correct their pencil grip.

So, how can you improve or correct your child’s pencil grip without him or her realising?

• Incorporate mazes, dot-to-dot activities, tracing, drawing, and games instead of just worksheets and the writing of letters of the alphabet
• Practise cutting using a pair of child-safe scissors to help develop hand dominance and strength

One of the crucial skills to develop at a preschooling age is a child’s ability to communicate. While some children have a later start, most preschoolers should be able to hold a simple conversation by the age of 4–5.

Children with strong communication skills will be able to listen and interact with those around them—such as their peers, teachers and relatives, and thus, learn more effectively.

If your child does seem to be struggling with this, here are some things you can do:

• Narrate your actions
  

  Not being able to adequately express his or her thoughts could be due to a lack of exposure (not knowing what certain actions or things are called). To expand vocabulary, narrate your actions when you are around your child (e.g. “I’m sweeping the floor to keep the house clean.” “I’m turning the fan on because it is a hot day.”).

• Avoid asking your child yes/no questions
  

  This is a method that is valid even when your child is older. Compare these two scenarios. If you ask your son/daughter, “Do you want to eat noodles for dinner?”, he or she can only reply with the word “yes” or “no”. Instead, if you ask, “What would you like for dinner?”, your child will have to express his or her thought. To carry this out thoroughly, try not to accept shoulder shrugging or “I don’t know” as a response. Should your child remain silent, you may offer some suggestions to help him or her make a choice (e.g. Would you like to try porridge, noodles, or rice?).

• Copy and build on your child’s words
  

  To encourage a two-way conversation, repeat and build on your child’s vocalisation of words. For example, if your preschooler says “shirt”, you can say, “Yes, this T-shirt is my favourite shirt.” Keep the conversation going by asking your child, “What is your favourite shirt?”

Concentration is a “muscle” and requires regular practice to strengthen. While some children are better able to focus than others, every child can learn strategies to improve their ability at concentrating on tasks.

At the age of 4–5, your preschooler should be able to focus for up to 20 minutes (depending on the task). If your child seems to be losing focus after a mere 30 seconds, here are some activities you can try at home:

• Do one activity at a time
  

  Research has shown that multitasking reduces one’s ability the focus and actually reduces the quality of work done. Since not many adults are able to do this, what more for a preschooler? For younger children, try to assign one task and remove other forms of distraction. For example, if you want your child to complete a tracing activity, do not bring toys over to entertain your child. Remind your child that the original task must be finished first before moving on to another activity.

• Set aside homework time and space
  

  Children are creatures of habit, particularly when they are young. Routines and habits help them learn what to do at a certain time and place. Dedicate a section in your home (or in the home of your child’s caregiver) where homework is to be done. For younger children, you can create a timetable with a combination of words and graphics to indicate the time of day during which work is to be done.

• Break down a big task into “bite-sized” pieces
  

  For a child who has trouble focusing, avoid assigning a huge task without clear instructions or motivational incentives. Instead, break up the task into step-by-step mini-checkpoints (e.g. First, cut up the pictures of vegetables. Second, arrange the pictures in order of the alphabets they begin with. Third, glue the pieces onto the paper.). You can also consider gamifying the task to engage your child (e.g. The first person who puts all the pictures in the correct order wins!).

At LiteracyPlus, our preschool classes use songs, hands-on activities and games to engage our students and keep them task-oriented. This helps them exercise their ability to focus as well.

Give Your Child an Early Start with LiteracyPlus

Our Reading Essentials programme for 4- to 5-year-olds and Head Start to Primary 1 programme for 6-year-olds provide children with the ability to develop and learn while having fun during their formative years. Click on the links below to find out more about each programme:

N2: Reading Essentials 1

K1: Reading Essentials 2

K2: Head Start to P1

If you have any questions about our preschool programmes, reach out to us and we will be happy to assist you.

enquiries@literacyplus.com.sg

9612 8696

6777 2468