What following directions actually means for your child
A correct response is simple to spot: your child hears the direction, picks up the real object and puts it where you said. Speech is not needed. Your child does not have to repeat the words or point at a picture of a box. If the car ends up in the box, that counts.
What does not count is just as useful to know. If you pointed at the box, glanced at it or moved the car halfway, your child may have followed your hand instead of your words. That is fine while you teach. Just write it down as a helped turn, not an independent one.
Set up the table before you say a word
Every direction in these packs uses the same short list of things you already own: a toy car, a ball, a cup, a book, a spoon, a sock, a box and a stable table. Use safe, familiar items. Keep them within reach, and make sure the box and the table are easy to tell apart.
Start with a small choice. Two or three objects and the box close by is plenty. Once your child knows the routine, add an object or a new place.
- Say the full direction once, calmly, then wait. This is not a race.
- Keep your hands still. Do not point toward the box or touch the object.
- Hide the printed adult guide so your child cannot read or follow your eyes to it.
- Plan 3 to 5 minutes: one easy win, 3 to 6 turns, then something your child enjoys.
One step first: put the car in the box
Begin with one direction and one place word. The Follow Directions with Position Words pack uses in, on, under and beside: “Put the toy car in the box.” “Put the spoon on the table.” “Put the ball under the table.” Your child only has to move one object to one spot.
If your child stalls, show the placement once or give one short reminder. On the next turn, pause a little longer before you help. If position words themselves are new, practice in, on and under on their own first, then come back to this pack.
Two-step directions, then three
Two step directions join two of those actions with “then”: “Put the book in the box, then put the cup under the table.” Say the whole sentence once. Your child does both, in that order, without you saying each step again in the middle. Repeating step two while your child is still holding the book turns it back into two one-step directions.
Three-step directions add one more: “Put the book in the box, then put the ball under the table, then put the cup beside the table.” Use the same objects first. When that feels easy, change one object or one location, not everything at once.
If your child gets the first step right and forgets the rest, that tells you something. Go back to two steps for a few days. During teaching, help your child hold the whole sequence, then fade your reminders.
Following directions activities with pictures
Some children are not ready to carry objects around, or you want something for the car or the waiting room. Two picture packs practice the listening part. In Understand Action and Object Sentences you say “Find the one pushing the cup” and your child points to or taps that picture, not the one pulling the cup. In Understand Daily Routine Actions you say “Tap the one brushing teeth” or “Tap the one getting dressed.”
Start with two clear pictures. Add one choice at a time and shuffle the positions between turns, so your child is listening to you and not remembering that the answer was on the left.
Keep teaching and checking apart
Each pack has six practice rounds and six check rounds. During practice, praise effort and help as needed. During a check, say the direction once and record the first response without helping. The practice log uses three marks: I for independent and correct, H for correct with help, X for incorrect or no response. If your child says no, stop and note it.
A good check score is a snapshot with familiar objects at your table. It does not mean your child follows new directions from other people in other places yet. Try the same direction from another adult, in another room, later in the week.