Social skills, unlike academic skills, are a little hard to quantify. Unlike giving a child quizzes or tests, these skills are observed, and is one of the ways that will help your child to express themselves, communicate with others, and have their place in the world. Perhaps you’ve come to this post because you’re wondering how to develop social skills in a child.
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How to develop social skills in students: My personal experience
Social skills are one of those things I mainly taught as an SLP, and even now to my 4-year-old. Since I homeschooled him informally for the PreK level, I knew that he is academically excelling, but I wanted opportunities for him to socialize with others.
This is where I began to enroll him in classes, camps, and also participate in Sunday school so that he has time to interact with others. Within the interactions in our family, I teach him what I used to teach in dyad or group settings in my social skills classes — sharing, apologizing when a mistake is made, polite words, empathy, and such.
In this post, I will be sharing some helpful tips on how to develop social skills in a child.
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How to develop social skills in a child: 4 key tips to remember
Embrace actual situations as unique teaching opportunities
Every situation that your child encounters is a unique opportunity to teach social skills. For example, my 4-year-old is upset when my 1-year-old grabs his toys or messes up his playtime. It was an opportunity for me to teach empathy, to tell him that CJ (one year old) is still a baby and figuring out how to play. I gave him several choices, such as playing in a different room, or sharing toys that can’t be messed up (instead of block towers, they can play balls instead).
In this single situation, I was able to teach problem solving and empathy, instead of being irritated that they can’t play together.
Use resources that teach specific social skills
One of the best ways on how to develop social skills in kindergarten or how to develop social skills in elementary is to use resources that can help them think about situations that can arise in daily life.
In this resource, “Social Skills Workbook for Kids“, children can develop different areas of social-emotional learning (SEL), such as:
- Communication skills
- Recognizing and expressing emotions
- Decisions and consequences
- Relationships with others
These different areas of social and emotional development help children to make the right choices in communication, dealing with emotions, and decision-making. To get your own copy, you can go to Amazon.
Play competitive games
A game of competition can teach many things to a child. Whether it’s a board game, a sport, or even a party parlor games, there’s a lot of opportunities to teach different areas of social skills such as strategy, communicating clearly, abiding by the rules, being a good sport, discipline, perseverance, and staying humble.
Not only are they fun, they stick to your child’s mind and heart, because kids love to play, and it’s how they learn.
Find opportunities to socialize in the community
One of the best ways on how to develop social skills in a child are opportunities for them to interact with peers. School is one thing, but it can be helpful to find other opportunities where they can get to know others in different contexts, such as a particular hobby, a sport, or even community-related events.
These are organic ways for them to learn how to deal with others who may have different backgrounds, and ways of communicating.
I hope these tips have helped you out! As always, don’t forget to check out the resource: “Social Skills Workbook for Kids“:
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