Tips for Teaching Your Child Anything

Simply telling your child what you want them to do and walking away is not an effective teaching strategy. You can’t “talk” your child into learning a new skill. The most effective teaching strategy is to do it with them and then have them practice. Research has repeatedly proven that the only way we all learn is through practice, practice, practice.

Prompting is the most important tool in teaching your child a new skill. Prompting is the action of persuading, encouraging, or reminding. There are four main types of prompting: verbal, gestural, visual, and hand over hand.

1. Verbal prompting is standing beside your child while they are doing the task and telling them what to do next.

2. Gestural prompting is when you point or act out the behavior to help your child know what to do next.

3. Visual prompting includes pictures, visual schedules, written lists, etc. An example of this is putting a list of the process of getting ready on their bathroom mirror.

4. Hand-over-hand prompting is when you take your child’s hands in yours and do what you want to see. For example, if you are asking your child which car is blue, you would touch the car with his hand while saying, “This car is blue.” This approach is invaluable because it negates any language barriers, provides an opportunity for the child to get the right answer and earn praise, and it encourages the child to comply.

Shaping is the next tool. Shaping is simply reinforcing small accomplishments towards the skill you are trying to teach. For example, let’s say your goal is that your child sits at the dinner table until the end of the meal. Shaping starts exactly where the child is. If your child walks around eating and has never been forced to sit at the dinner table, start there. Shape the behavior by putting them in the chair for 10 seconds, praise them for sitting, and then let them return to walking around. After a short time, do this again. If 10 seconds occurred without any extreme frustration, you can move up to 15 seconds and then 20 seconds. The next day, you increase the time and continue shaping until your child can sit through the meal. We always begin shaping from where the child will be successful, so if 10 seconds is too long, start at 5 seconds. If that is too long, start with sitting in the chair. No matter how your child behaves, praise them for trying, even if they are angry. If you praise what you want to see, your child will do it again willingly.

I can’t talk about prompting or shaping without conveying the importance of precursor skills. Precursor skills must be mastered before you can move to something more complex. For example, if your child can’t write her name, make sure she has the precursor skills of holding a pencil, writing on paper, writing letters, and attending long enough to write her entire name. We strongly encourage parents to think through the precursor skills a child needs before working towards a goal. Otherwise, you are setting your child up for failure and frustration.

Practice makes progress, but effective practice must include starting where they are, prompting when necessary, and shaping complex skills.

Movies in the Park

Join us for the Movies in the Park Series on July 28 for Strange World (Rated PG). Bring your blankets and chairs out to Hunter Amphitheater in Community Maritime Park for a family-friendly movie underneath the stars. All Pre-Show Activities

Begin at 6 P.M. The movie begins at sunset. Snack concessions from local food trucks may be available for purchase subject to availability and picnic baskets are welcome too.

Red, White and Blues Week featuring the Pensacola Beach Air Show – July 5-8

Locals and visitors from all over look forward to the annual Pensacola Beach Air Show held in June 5-8, 2023. The show highlights our hometown heroes — the Blue Angels — the U. S. Navy’s flight dem onstration squadron stationed at Forrest Sherman Field aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola. The Blues hold several practice sessions along the beach in the days lead ing up to the big event on show day.

Kicking off the air show week is “Breakfast with the Blues,” on Wednesday, July 5, at 8:00 a.m. when the Blue Angels arrive and circle overhead to mark the show’s coordinates and center points along Pensacola Beach.

On Thursday, July 6, at 2 p.m., the Blue Angels hold a full practice show over Pensacola Beach. Friday, July 7, is the Pensacola Beach Air Show dress rehearsal, with the civilian acts beginning just after 11 a.m. and the Blue Angels overhead at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 8, marks the official Pensacola Beach Air Show, and follows exactly Friday’s dress rehearsal schedule. Please visit https://www.visitpensacola.com/events/blue-angelsair-show-pensacola-beach1/ for more information.

Crab Cake Cook-Off

Join us on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 from 6 pm – 8 pm at Seville Quarter for the Crab Cake Cook-Of to benefit the Arc Gateway. The Crab Cake Cook-Off is one of Pensacola’s most iconic and well-attended fundraisers of the year. This year’s crabulous event is presented by Sims Orthodontics.

Restaurants and chefs are invited to compete for bragging rights and winner of Best Crab Cake on the Gulf Coast.

Guests are given the chance to sample world-class crab cakes, indulge on delectable desserts and sip a variety of libations while surveying an extraordinary silent auction and purchase art made by our very own clients. For more information, please visit https://crabcakecookoff.org.

Pensacola Splash Fest

Come cool off for the day with us on July 15 and enjoy Pensacola Splash Fest at Community Maritime Park from 10 AM-7 PM. Numerous water slide bounce houses, water obstacle courses, slip n slides, dunk tank, corn hole, triple play sports games, watermelon eating competition and more! Come cool off for the day and have a blast. Wristbands will be issued at the entrance to enjoy all slides/bounce houses all day. Advanced tickets sold online. Please visit www. apexshowsandevents.com for more information.

NAS Pensacola Is Now Open to the Public

Naval Air Station Pensacola has reopened to the public seven days a week for the first time in over three years. While on the base, the public will be able to visit the Pensacola Lighthouse, Fort Barrancas and the National Naval Aviation Museum. Public access to NAS Pensacola will be available from 9 a.m. through 3 p.m. through the west gate only on Blue Angel Parkway. The museum is open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. All U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals 18 and older must have a Real ID or passport. Please visit https://cnrse.cnic.navy.mil/Installations/NASPensacola/ for more information.

First Dance Ballroom presents The Greatest Showcase

First Dance Ballroom Studio presents the Greatest Showcase featuring local celebrities dancing to their favorite ballroom tunes on July 29 at 7:00pm at the Pensacola Saenger Theatre. Proceeds from this event benefit Children’s Home Society. Please visit https://www.pensacolasaenger.com/events/ the-greatest-showcase/ for tickets.

Sertoma’s 4th of July Fun

Sertoma’s 4th of July features the brightest fireworks show on the Gulf Coast. Occupying Seville Square in downtown Pensacola, this family-friendly event offers lots of fun, including face painting, pony rides, live entertainment, inflatables, and, of course, the fireworks display over Pensacola Bay at 9 pm. What’s more, this display is

Traveling Smithsonian Exhibit Comes to the MESS Hall

Join us this summer as the MESS Hall presents a new exhibit that is part of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service: The Bias Inside Us. This exhibit puts implicit bias under a microscope to examine the science behind it, how it affects all of our lives in hidden ways, and how you can #ReTrainYourBrain. The exhibit will only be at the MESS Hall for a limited time from July 15th to August 15th, so be sure to check it out while it’s here!

The traveling exhibit is different from some of the MESS Hall’s usual offerings and is geared more for teenagers and adults. However, the MESS Hall will still have most of its normal exhibits and activities still available while the traveling exhibit is here. Along with having a physical exhibit installation, we will also be incorporating new hands-on activities on-site and in our Outreach programs, so stay tuned for more information on those exciting developments. For more information on the exhibit and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, please visit https://biasinsideus.si.edu/homepage.

Cinemas in the Sand

Pack up your beach chairs and a blanket and dig your toes in the sugar-white sand while watching classic family movies on Pensacola Beach. The Santa Rosa Island Authority (SRIA) invites families and kids, young and old, to its newest event – Cinemas in the Sand movie nights on Pensacola Beach. All movies are free to the public and will start at sunset on a giant inflatable outdoor movie screen in front of the Gulfside Pavilion stage, weather permitting. July Movies: July 14: The Sandlot and July 28: Moana. Visit https://www. visitpensacolabeach.com/whats-happening-calendar/ for more information.