The Fun Quotient

We are all familiar with EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient) and IQ (Intelligence Quotient) but how many of us are familiar with the term FQ (Fun Quotient)!? I have been reading the ESDM (Early Start Denver Model) by Sally Rogers and Geraldine Dawson and the ESDM’s parent guide, “An Early Start for Your Child with Autism” by Sally Rogers, Geraldine Dawson and Laurie Vismara.

There is a chapter called “Everyday Strategies” and within that is a section labelled “Why Having Fun Together Is So Important” where they list six points on why and how having fun with your child can increase their learning.

Buy the ESDM manual on amazon.ca or amazon.com.

The Fun Quotient

  1. More fun = faster learning. Children learn faster when they have more exposure and more practice to what they are learning. Therefore, they will want to keep doing fun activities which will aid in their practice of the activity and increase the speech of their learning.

  2. More fun = more learning opportunities. If a child is having fun they will want to continue doing the activity for longer which will mean there are more opportunities for learning.

  3. More fun = increase in communicative attempts. When a child is having fun they will likely show the following communicative strategies: smiling, reaching, turn taking which are all aspects of communication that are necessary in order for one to develop words, gestures and more complex language in their repertoire.

  4. More fun = a reward in itself. If the child communicates that they want to keep playing the game because they are enjoying it and you do continue this is positive reinforcement and a reward in itself for the child partaking in the activity aka a natural reward system.

  5. More fun = increase in ability to maintain attention. If a child is having fun they will be more engaged and more willing to sustain their focused attention for longer periods of time. Maintaining attention during educational activities is an important skill children must develop over time in order to successfully manage school and learn language.

-SB

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