Wonder World Classroom

Part of the "If Your Kid Hates..." series...

So we hit on this idea to have Bri make a holiday video for my husband's business. Thing is, people have trouble understanding some of her 7-year-old speak. While we have adapted to her speech it's tough for us at times, too. Stopping several times to have her repeat things, or re-pronouncing them until she gets it right has proven quite frustrating for her. While she doesn't hate speaking per se, she is not wild about us pestering her over enunciation.

All this considered, the video idea might sound like a pipe dream. If fact, it wound up serving our needs well. Since she was excited about the idea of going on camera (in front of a green screen, no less), she was eager to rehearse her lines and work on speaking clearly for the audience. Thus, a perfect "teachable moment" was born. Rehearsing was done from the perspective of all actors needing to practice their lines over and over, and pronounce them clearly, so the microphone can pick up the words.

After days of practice and several "takes" she still had some trouble with the more difficult words--which was fine, since we weren't expecting her to transform overnight--but she did improve her speaking clarity. More important, she enjoyed the process. Also, the video gives her the opportunity to hear how she sounds to others, which is a good tool for her without my having to pester about it. This was successful enough that she wants to do more, so we are planning other short videos for her to tackle in the near future.

Here's the video: