RL.C.53 RESPONDS TO BRING ME …AND…’, FROM ANYWHERE IN THE ROOM

Practising in a natural environment is important for most of the skills in this program, but it is so important for this skill that we list it separately.

Your structured work with sets of 4 objects was a preparation for the practical skill of following directions around the house.

If your child is walking, and has reached this level in this sequence, she can probably already bring things to you if you name them singly – ‘Find your Teddy’ or ‘Bring me my shoe, please, darling’. Now she can learn to follow a direction with 2 parts, such as ‘We need your hat and shoes’ or ‘Can you get me a biscuit and some cheese?’

Note that while ‘Bring me’ is the basic direction used, there are many possible variations. The important thing is that the child is asked to do the same thing with both objects.

If your child is not mobile, you can extend the skill she acquired in RL.C.52 by offering her a wider choice of objects and/or positioning her where she can pass you objects that you need.

How to Assess

Method: This skill must be assessed in the home or in a classroom familiar to the child.

Using objects known to the child and accessible to her, say: ‘Bring me the . . . and the . . .’. Give 3 tries, naming different combinations of objects. You can spread your 3 tries out over a day, if you wish. Do not give any extra hints or reminders. Make sure that your child listens to all the direction before she goes off to find the objects.

Score plus if your child follows your direction in at least 2 of the 3 tries.

How to Teach

Start by naming pairs of objects that are often used together, such as shoes and socks, plate and spoon, bucket and spade.

Initially you may need to go with your child to help her find both objects. Try getting somebody else in the room to give the direction, and you help your child to find the objects and take them back to the asker.

When your child shows that she is less dependent on your presence, sit back and let her go by herself, giving the kind of reminders described in RL.C.52 when necessary.

Your child might enjoy playing a shopping game. Give her a basket and a shopping list, on which you have drawn simple pictures of 2 objects which she is to ‘buy’. Once she has mastered the skill, she could go shopping without a list, and/or with a longer list.

Remembering and Extending

Once your child has mastered this skill you will find all sorts of ways to help her practise it. It will be extended in the last few skills of Sequence RL.D.