I want to teach my child new skills, but it seems like they’re struggling to learn stuff.

Sometimes when we’re trying to teach a new skill, we set the bar way too high for a starting point to teach at. 

When we’re teaching a new skills, we should first break it down and figure out the steps to accomplish the end goal.

Shaping behavior can be done for a variety of different skills. Here at The ABA Parent Page, you’ll learn what shaping is and how to use it.

Shaping a behavior, or new skill, is a good strategy to use and is sometimes necessary to teach children a skill. 

Let’s dive in to shaping behaviors!

What is shaping?

Shaping is when you work on teaching a new skill to your child through progressive phases to reach an end goal. This is also known as approximations for the end goal. 

There are different aspects that you can use shaping for. These are:

• Requesting for items, locations, or activities
• Engaging in various physical activities
• Working on social skills

Where to start with shaping

Identify the target end goal, for example having your child request using a full sentence. 

Then decide on a starting point to work on this skill. If you want your child to request in a full sentence, you may want to start with simple one word reqeusting. 

As your child masters that phase of the skill, gradually build the skill up toward the end goal.

By gradually building the skill, your child is improving on this overall skill in different phases. 

As your child works on each phase, ensure you are reinforcing the current phase of learning.

Why use shaping?

Your child can access reinforcement earlier and remain motivated to work on the skill more. 

The use of shaping can teach the new skill at a faster rate than strictly working on the end goal in the beginning. 

This is because the higher the expectation, it becomes more difficult to actually teach the skill successfully due to frustration from you and your child. Motivation can be lost to keep trying at the skill. 

Take Aways

Shaping is a strategy that can be used to teach a new skill through approximations of an overall end goal. 

There are different reasons to use shaping and the phases you will teach your child depends on what that skill is. 

As each phase is mastered, your child will progress toward the end goal and keep the motivation to continue learning the skill.

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Let’s talk about behaviors!