This is a very important sense; consider its relation to memory and how your decisions and judgments are based upon things you have heard or thought you heard.
Psychological tests have revealed the fact that the ear of the average person is mistaken thirty-four per cent of the time. Think of it—one-third of your ear impressions are mistaken. The resulting memory, judgment and action must suffer. This is true largely because of lack of a conscious effort to develop this important sense.
A Test Exercise
Have the child stand across the room and listen for the tick of a watch which you hold in your hand. If he cannot hear the tick, advance slowly toward him and keep track of the distance at which the child first distinguishes the ticking. It will be interesting to test each ear separately. Any physical defect in the child's hearing can be found by this test. Encourage him to make a deliberate effort to hear the watch. Do not be too hasty in moving towards him as he will have to concentrate his attention before the tick can be heard. This exercise is a good one for the development of attention. Practice with this yourself. You will find as your attention wanders that you will lose the consciousness of the ticking of the watch.
The Game of Whispering
Have the child stand across the room or several feet away. Whisper a word and see if he can repeat it. Encourage him to try a little more and to be more quiet; then whisper the same word but no louder. Work with this exercise, increasing the tone gradually until the child distinguishes what is said. Then whisper other words and sentences. This exercise can be lengthened and is excellent for the development of attention and memory as well as of hearing.
The Game of Tapping
Sit at a table and with a pencil or your finger tap upon it a certain number of times, during which there are irregular intervals, for example—four taps—interval—two taps—interval—five taps—interval—one tap.
Now see if the child can reproduce the correct number of taps and intervals. This can be varied in innumerable ways. For older children tap a familiar tune and see who can recognize it. Let the winner tap a tune for the others to recognize.