Keys to teaching children social skills
Discover the keys to teaching children social skills that will last them a lifetime.
Humans are social beings by nature , but the detail of developing that ability in a correct and civilized way is always carried out by third parties, which, in most cases, are parents or school teachers. For a first-time father or mother, children are a challenge when it comes to educating them but this process should not be ignored or taken lightly if what one wants is to launch them into the world and that they learn and know how to relate with others .
The passage of a child through kindergarten or elementary school will be a way for him to develop personally, to create his own personality and also the basis on which to build his way of relating to his classmates. It is important to educate a young child as part of a whole , which is society, and in which it is important to behave according to principles and basic moral and coexistence rules. If as a parent you are a bit lost and do not know how to encourage those social skills in your child, pay attention to the following tips that we now propose.
Index
MAKE HIM SEE THE IMPORTANCE OF RELATING
A small child , no matter how much one teaches him to do something or to behave in a certain way, he will learn everything that he is told without any type of filter because, even at those ages, they do not have the same reasoning capacity. developed than an adult. It is for this reason that it is important, in addition to purely teaching social skills to your child, to reason them with him .
Empathy also plays a fundamental role in this section , because teaching your child to be understanding in front of others will help him in his way of relating and in his way of communicating or acting before others. Talk to your child, exemplify any type of situation that occurs to you and in which he has to interact with others and explain why he has to act in one way or another.
HELP THEM BE POSITIVE
Another fundamental element in both the personal development and the social skills of a young child is the fact that he learns to be positive . A bad attitude towards himself and towards others will make your child behave in an undesirable way, even disrespecting or hindering the work of, for example, his teacher during a class. To combat this, boost his self-esteem and let him see what things he can do or say to be happy with himself and to make others happy as well.
One of the social skills that you can exploit is that of kindness to others. Teach him the benefits and consequences of being kind and positive to other people so that he can internalize and apply them when he is alone in society.
STORIES AS A TEACHING METHOD
Capturing the attention of children can become a very difficult task and more when what we want is to teach them something. Using a story or a story as an educational resource is a tool that has always been used to transmit different values to children in a very natural way and easily assimilated by them. The good thing about this method is that concepts are not transmitted as such , but what the child learns and internalizes, it does through situations set as examples.
Using a story with different characters , each of them with a different role in the story, will also help your child to identify unfair situations or bad behaviors, so take advantage of this to reason with him or even to help him if he cannot recognize them. This exercise will also be crucial to develop a sense of empathy so do not be shy and improvise tales or stories with which to teach your child.
REWARD WHAT YOUR CHILD HAS LEARNED
For a child to end up internalizing something that they want to be taught, it is quite common for their parents or teachers to need to repeat it more than once. On the other hand, it will also be crucial that when the child manages to act according to what he has taught himself, the adults recognize this achievement . Praising your child when he has learned a new social skill will make him repeat it again looking for that parental and personal satisfaction so do not forget these two factors: repetition and recognition of achievement.
The latter is known as positive reinforcement and consists, basically, of rewarding the child when he has done well. Positive reinforcement does not mean that the little one has to give him something or do anything special every time he behaves well, since getting him used to rewards could be counterproductive for him. Just smile at him, give him a hug or a kiss, and convey how happy you are that he is putting into practice what you have taught him.
BE AN EXAMPLE FOR THEM
This advice may be obvious but, even so, it is essential to be aware that a father will always be an example for his son and that everything that the first does or says will become a reference for the second. If as a parent you are concerned about properly educating your child in terms of social skills, first you have to analyze what your own are like and, if you find any flaw or point to improve, learn and work on it together with your child.
Children always tend to imitate what adults do so it is not uncommon for them to copy the attitudes and behaviors of their parents, who are with whom they spend most of the time. If you want to teach your child social skills, behave and interact with others in an exemplary way for him . By being consistent with your actions, you will prevent your child from being confused when you try to transmit or teach him something that you then do not apply to yourself. Be a positive example for your child.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.