Preschoolers tend to talk at the top of their voice. It’s natural for their age since they haven’t learned the art of voice modulation. Not all kids get over the loud voice, though – in some, it continues till long after the child has left preschool.

Indoor Voices and Outdoor Voices

To help your child understand the difference in speech and tone required in various situations, start by telling her the difference between indoor voices and outdoor voices. You will need to set apart some time to do this.

Show her the two different tones of voice that people use when they are inside a house, (or restaurant, or at other’s houses), and outside.

Say, “When you’re inside a house, whether our own or at a friends’ place or at a restaurant, you don’t need to talk loudly, because it’s quiet, and we can hear what you’re saying. But when we step outside (take her outside the house) there’s plenty of noise because of the traffic, and you might need to raise your voice a little, so we can hear what you’re saying.”

Practice both kinds of voices over a course of weeks, until it becomes more firmly ingrained.

How to Wait for Your Turn While Others are Speaking

Being gentle and telling her how to wait her turn is the only way to teach her this. Scolding doesn’t help at all, and is bound to humiliate her in front of people, which is actually the worst possible thing you can do at this age.

Gently tell her (at home) that when people are talking, she must wait her turn, and she will get her chance to speak. Start by practicing this at home at the dinner table, or when your husband and you are having a conversation, and she wants to join in. If she’s restless as she waits for her turn to speak, hold her hand to let her know her turn is coming.

Don’t begin teaching her this skill by chiding her with a “Don’t interrupt,” when you are all in social company; she’ll end up feeling humiliated.

Don’t ruin the whole thing by ignoring her once the adult conversation is done – you’ll convince her you don’t really mean what you say anyway. Give her a chance to have her say, and be patient through 10 minutes of Ummm…er… ahhh… and so on. If she’s restless as she waits for her turn to speak, hold her hand to let her know her turn is coming.