Think of most of what you learnt and you will realize how much we use the skill to imitate to learn something.
Think of watching a cooking show. You watch the show and make notes of the process. As you read the words you had written down, you recall the visual image associated with it and end up doing the same as you cook.
Now think of how children learn to write letters and numbers. They watch the teacher form it in a certain way, they practice it and when committed to memory is when they know how to write the letter or number.
Now let’s think about driving a car. We watched very intently as the instructor showed us how to shift the gears. We then practiced what we saw and learnt it to be able to drive smoothly.
Imitation, be actions, sounds or expressions…..we use that skill to learn new things. And that is a skill that is sometimes the block in children with special needs. And that is a skill that needs to be taught with fun and games rather than with serious letter and number formations.
The link attached shows an excellent game which can be played with hands too. Another good game is to imitate silly actions of the leader of the group; when he claps, you clap, etc.
Try this with your child, typical or atypical, and what did you find? Are they able to imitate an action easily? Or are they better at imitating sounds more than actions? Tell me what you experienced……leave a comment here below.
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— at Samatha Learning Centre.
