Observing Communication

This week's topic discusses observing communication. I observed the communication between my sister and her daughter. My niece and sister have a great relationship. They talk about everything and are very open about their feelings. During this observation, my niece was telling my sister about an incident that occurred at school. They were very open with each other about their feelings and my sister allowed my niece to express how she felt about the incident. My sister asked her probing questions so that my niece was able to think about her thinking and why she felt a certain way about the topic being discussed.
    My sister did a great job in communicating with her daughter. She supported her daughter's opinions and gave her the opportunity to express her ideas. This is very important when communicating with children (Laureate Education, 2011). My niece is a very outspoken child and this can be contributed to the encouragement my sister gives her to be herself and be proud of who she is and how she feels. My sister is an educator and she understands the importance of communication in young children. My observation of my niece and sister made me reflect on how I communicate with my own children. I often don't do a good job of supporting their opinions and allowing them to freely express themeself. I no realize how important that is after this week's lesson.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children:Communicating

            with young children. Baltimore, MD: Author