In this podcast, Dr. Shaw continues to review her "Ten Governing Principles" for effective communication with children.  Those principles for the backbone of her new parenting guide just published recently and available at Amazon.com.  That new book was first introduced during this podcast series a number of weeks ago, and the concept for Dr. Shaw's new parenting guide is to help parents and educators communicate effectively with young children.  The book has the appropriate title of I Like How You Speak to Me... A Parent's Guide to Effective Communication with Children, and the opening section of that book lists the aforementioned Ten Governing Principles for effective communication. Dr. Shaw promised that for ten straight podcasts she would delve into a discussion of one guiding principle per episode, and this is the eighth of those ten.  Her eighth governing principle, the one she discusses here, is TO ALWAYS CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING.  While it sounds obvious, checking that your child is clear about what you are saying is completely necessary for effective communication because without understanding one's communication cannot possibly be effective.  Perhaps the biggest revelation in this podcast is HOW you can check for understanding and what to do about it if it turns out your child does not understand what you are saying. Each of the 10 governing principles is intended to be used in tandem with the other 9, and between this podcast series and her new parenting book, Dr. Shaw shares some great strategies for getting your parent-child communication to actually work.