How To Teach Social Skills To Children

We are social animals. Period. One of the most important things, which we can do, to help our children develop better, is instill in them good social skills. It will help them become better individuals. Children are like lumps of clay and we, being the sculptor, can mold or fashion them into any shape we want. This is how the great responsibility of social development of a child falls on your head. Read on to know how to teach social skill to children and help them grow into responsible adults. 

 

The most important skill that your child needs to acquire is to recognize rules. You need to teach your children the rules for proper behavior. For example, if you are in a queue and your child wants to break it, advise him/her against it, emphasizing the importance of queues. Teach your children all the general manners, like asking permission before taking someone else’s things, speaking only after the other person has finished, etc. Teach these social skills from the very beginning, by following them yourself too.

 

The four P’s applies to practice, praise, point out and prompt. If you want to teach proper social skills to your children, you need to practice these four points. Make them understand the virtue of patience. Let them wait for talking to you, if you are busy with somebody else. You need to give constant encouragement to your kids and praise them when they exhibit good social behavior. Your constant encouragement will help them get over the starting glitch. The other P i.e. 'point out' means that you need to point out the good behavior in yourself as well others. Finally, prompt your child for using appropriate behavior whenever suitable situations come up.

 

Teach your child the power of sharing. It may not come automatically, but they need to develop this skill if they want to grow into sociable adults. When your child refuses to share his/her toys or sweets with the other kids, don't shout at him/her or forcing him/her to share, Rather, make him/her realize how he/she would feel if you or your spouse don’t share anything with him/her. Teach your children that in order to make friends and have good relationship, they need to dispose of their selfishness. Make them understand that the more they share, the more satisfaction they will get.

 

Make your children work with others, as it will help them develop team spirit and make them bond with their friends in a better way. It will also serve as a way to enhance the skill of sharing. Let them help their friends in homework or any common project. Let them share the household chores with you. Making some creative craft together with your kids will also help enhance this skill.

 

Inculcate the skill of listening in your child, not just talking. It will go a long way in instilling in them the skill of patience and make them a better person in general. You can use various activities for instilling this virtue, such as indulging in frequent discussions with your child, in which first you speak and only when you are finished, is he/she allowed to speak.

 

Unless your child is polite, no other skill will prove helpful to him/her. Teach your children how to respect others. You need to coach them on the very basis of politeness, like using the word, please, thank you, sir, madam etc. They need to learn to respect other people and their properties. They should also be taught the suitable way of making request for anything.