World famous writer Dale Carngie has written in his widely acclaimed book, “How to win friends and influence people” that listening is an essential quality to win friends. His theory is now very much appreciated in learning. A teacher teaches in the class and students are expected to give rapt attention. Attention begets listening. The more a child listens, the greater is his understanding and retention. But it is now observed that most of the children do not listen properly. Some of them talk among themselves when the teacher writes something on the blackboard. Some children scribble something on their note books not relating the topic.

Listening is a very good habit for learning. Of course some teachers cannot ensure attention because of uninteresting teaching. The more the teacher becomes dynamic, active and is himself interested in teaching, the more the attention and listening.

At home some parents while teaching their children, becomes impatient and sometimes reprimand the children. So to develop good listening, one has to follow the following procedures.

1. See if the child is ready. Children are usually fickle. Observe his mood and start teaching or telling stories of text books.

2. Ensure a calm and noise free atmosphere at home and start talking.

3. Never teach if the child is ill.

4. Begin by short talks and after finishing ask question as to know how much he/she has retained.

5. Play a popular song in a tape-recorder and ask how much she/he remembers.

6. Take your child to a park and tell him the name of the trees in the park, and then how many trees he can name and identify.

7. Tell a non textual story, a story from folk falls of India or Orissa and ask him to narrate the story by his own words.

8. Show a picture having several details. Ask him to see minutely for at least ten to fifteen minutes, and then ask him how many features he remembered. This would eradicate his fickleness.

9. Give him a short and simple passage from his text book and ask him to copy it in his note book. Observe his activities, is he looking frequently outward and then writing or is he fully concentrating in writing. If he while copying diverts his attention from the passage of and on, ask him to concentrate. This will help his listening habit.

10. Now puzzle books for children are available in the market. Procure one as per his/her age and ask him /her to solve the puzzle. This is a very good device to develop brain power, attention and concentration. Please remember concentration is the mother of listening.

11. Take him/her to some children recitation function. Encourage him/her to recite a poem in the function. After function, ask him whose recitation he liked and why? If he tells one or two children’s recitation, ask him how much he remembered such recitation.

On the whole listening is a gate way to learning. In the present situation as was observed good listening habit is dwindling. According to the great psychologist, James William, “Behaviour is prelude to learning and listening is prelude to behaviour.”