Libby Public School Series; Following Directions

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Following directions and  whether or not our children are able to follow directions,  is probably not something on anyone's mind regularly.  However how many times a day do we ask our children to listen to us, or we complain our children do not listen. In reality they do not follow the directions they are given.  How come they do not listen. There are many reasons, some children do not comprehend the request, others just don't feel like it or  maybe they are distracted. 



We are not born with the ability to follow directions, it is part of a larger process of development. By the time a child is 6 yrs old the foundation for complex direction following has been laid.
From a brought view looking at "normal" child development we can say the following;

1-2 years old; Follow 1 step directions (e.g. give me the pencil)
2-4 years old; Follow 2 step directions (e.g. get a pencil and sit a the table)
5-6 years old; Follow 3 step directions (e.g. get a pencil, sit at the table and write your name)

There are a lot of building blocks that make up the process and ability to follow directions I will describe some of them in more details:
  • Relationship: Based on attachment theory and my own experiences, children who have a trusting relationship are more open to following the guidance and direction of the adult.  
  • Listening: The auditory system or hearing has to be intact, if not other means of requesting need to be used e.g. sign language, visual, tone of voice change. 
  • Receptive Language: The child has to know the meaning of the words and request, if not other means e.g. pictures may need to be utilized
  • Attention: You need to gain and engage the child's attention by e.g. requesting eye contact first, getting to the child's level (eye level), making physical contact (touch their hand, shoulder, sit them in your lap), use the volume of your voice (soft or quiet voice)
  • Working Memory: This part of our memory is the area that holds information for short periods of time long enough to complete a task e.g. look up a phone number and hold onto it long enough to make the call.
  • Processing time; After you have given the directions make sure you give the child enough time to respond, many children who struggle to follow directions because of a developmental delay or disability e.g. autism, down syndrome, cerebral palsy or a trauma back ground may needed extended time to process the directions. Increased response times can be anywhere from 5 seconds to a couple of minutes. Each time you interrupt the wait time and give the direction again the process starts over for the child, which may lead to frustration for all parties.  
Following directions can be learned. Like every new skill, to learn takes practice and persistence. The nice thing about this skill is it does not require any special tools and you can implement it at any time any where through, day to day activities such as getting dressed and meal time but also through play. 
Below I will describe a few structured activities that focus on following directions. 
  • Monkey See Monkey Do; You do a pose or exercise, or you show a picture of a pose and the child  imitates the pose or exercise
  • Line Exercises: Set up two markers e.g. cups  20-40 ft  apart, give the child a direction of an exercise e.g. run, gallop, hop like a frog, bear walk, crab walk, side step, hop on one leg, by saying" when I say go ...[fill in exercise].... to the other side. You can then expand to a sequence of two and three exercises.
  • Games: Simon Says, Red Light - Green Light, Freeze Game, the song if you are happy and you know it. 
There are more structured programs and strategies that I plan to share with you at a later date. If you have questions or suggestions please send me an email or comment. For now have some more fun with your children gaining skills while playing. 


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