Faces and Bodies Give Clues
Faces and Bodies Give Clues
Facial expression and posture can offer clues, but adults do not decide a child's feeling for them. The aim is connection and response, not a performance task.
Today's Approach
Amara is about 1 year 9–10 months old. Keep each activity to 3–8 minutes. Looking, pointing, making a sound or saying one word, staying quiet, pausing, or declining all count. Use only the poster and audio; do not require objects, answers, repetition, performance, touch, or eye contact.
A4 Teaching Picture
Open the teaching picture to download or print
Goals
- Communication: hear and see “The child smiles. The child may feel happy.” and “The child curls up. The child may feel upset.” in natural descriptions.
- Understanding: Clues can help us care, but they cannot decide another person's feeling.
- English: understand two short descriptions with picture support, without repeating.
- Quantity: the adult points one-to-one through one ball, two apples, and three cups, without requiring an answer.
Materials
- Only the A4 teaching picture above, printed or displayed full-screen.
- The English audio below at a comfortable volume.
- No cards, toys, food, containers, or any other physical objects are needed.
1. Chinese Picture Talk
Time: 5–8 minutes.
One child smiles and stretches while another frowns and curls inward; labels use “may.” Say slowly, “孩子在笑。孩子可能很开心。” and “孩子缩起身体。孩子可能有些难受。” once each, then pause to notice what Amara actually attends to.
Amara may look anywhere, point, make a sound, say one word, stay quiet, pause, or decline. Do not ask “What is this?” or “Who is doing it?” Do not correct, score, or request a retelling.
2. English Time
Time: 3–5 minutes.
Download today's English audio
Transcript: English time. Listen, look, or point. The child smiles. The child may feel happy. The child curls up. The child may feel upset. One ball. Two apples. Three cups. All done.
Play it once. The adult may gently point to the matching picture as the audio plays. Repetition, movement, and looking at the adult are not tasks.
| English | Chinese | Possible response |
|---|---|---|
The child smiles. The child may feel happy. | 孩子在笑。孩子可能很开心。 | Look, point, make a sound, or say one word |
The child curls up. The child may feel upset. | 孩子缩起身体。孩子可能有些难受。 | Listen quietly, pause, or decline |
3. Early Quantity: 1, 2, 3
Time: 3–5 minutes.
Use only the three separate bottom boxes: one ball, two apples, and three cups. The adult moves one fingertip one-to-one and says “one, two, three” once. Do not count the main picture, words, or border, and do not ask Amara to identify numerals.
4. Adult Response and Boundaries
Time: 3–5 minutes.
The adult can say, “I noticed your signal.” Describe the place Amara looks toward. If she turns away, pushes the screen, becomes quiet, or says no, respond promptly: “You want to pause. We will stop.”
Safety and Development Note
Clues can help us care, but they cannot decide another person's feeling. The poster and audio support shared looking only; they never replace real supervision. Adults are responsible for real safety, hygiene, feeding, body care, and necessary boundaries. Do not use quizzes, correction, rewards, scores, forced repetition, or comparison.
Gentle Bedtime Recall
Time: 3–5 minutes.
Say “The child smiles. The child may feel happy.” and “The child curls up. The child may feel upset.” once, then point through the bottom groups of one, two, and three. Looking, pointing, a sound, one word, quiet, pausing, or declining may all end today's recall.