Listening is one of the most sincere forms of respect. As a skill, it involves eye contact, alertness, receptive body language, interpretation and retention of information, and an attitude of tolerance. Listening is crucial for language development, learning how to focus and following directions.
One way to teach kids the relevance of listening is to repeat what they have said so that they know you were interested in what they were saying. While reading a story, pause and ask them to give a recap of the narration, so far. Sing nursery rhymes and leave out a word. Let your child guess the missing word.