Social interaction kids

Why Social Interaction is Important For Young Children

In the early years of a child’s life, they will learn a lot—from crawling to walking, babbling to talking, and so many other things. They learn words, numbers, shapes, colors, items, people, the list goes on and on.

Your little one will learn who their parents are, who their siblings are, who their grandparents are, and who their friends are. They will begin to learn how to interact with the many different people in their life, whether it is by staring at them, showing them their favorite toy, or trying to communicate through attempted words. Young kids begin to understand that communication is key to getting anyone to understand them. When they cry, someone will take care of them. If they point at what they need they will most likely receive it. And eventually they will learn how to talk and communicate with people more effectively.

It is amazing how much youngsters learn in the first few years of their life. They are able to learn most of this from observing. But social interaction is one thing that they can learn from by experiencing it for themselves. There is a lot that can be learned from social interaction, and children can learn these things from observing others interacting with each other. Children need social interaction to develop their social skills.

Social interaction is important for young children. When they are young, they will be able to learn from social experiences and develop different social skills based on those interactions. As we get older, it is hard to learn from interaction with others and change our ways. A shy person is not going to suddenly change their ways and stop being shy because it is hard to make new friends, they may try to be more outgoing and they may be slightly successful, but they will most likely not be the most outgoing person in the room. A child who learns how to interact with others properly will have an easier time in social settings throughout the rest of their lives.

It is important for your children to interact socially, whether it is through play with their siblings, befriending neighborhood kids, or getting enrolled in an early childhood development center. An early childhood development center is a great choice because they get social interaction while learning, exploring, and growing. At Yellow Brick Road Early Childhood Development Center, your kiddos will get the best developmental education while learning and growing in a social and interactive environment.

At Yellow Brick Road, we understand the importance of allowing children to interact with others, have the chance to be independent, and explore their curiosities. We encourage our students to learn on their own and from others, while also helping them with their growth and development.

Social interaction is a huge part of our culture at Yellow Brick Road. Your kiddos will be able to interact with other kids as well as our friendly and encouraging staff. Why is social interaction so important for young kids? In this blog, we will go over some of the reasons why children need social interaction.

Social skills are an obvious reason why social experience is important for children. We use our social skills on a daily basis throughout our entire lives. We need to learn how to interact with others and develop the skills to do this successfully. Through social interaction we can learn how to act and react to others. We figure out how to empathize with others and see things from their perspective. This is important to do in all social interactions we have, which is why it is important to develop this skill at a young age. Kids will learn how show respect to others and how others expect them to act, and they will be able to develop different skills from these lessons. Social cues are important for everyone to learn, including your youngsters.

Along with social skills, communication skills are another important lesson that kiddos can learn through different social interaction. Communicating is another thing you do daily, so learning how to properly communicate at a young age can help throughout a child’s entire life. Kids will develop the skills to communicate with others, express their feelings, and will also gain a sense of self.

As your children learn and spend time at Yellow Brick Road working independently and with others, they will learn how to effectively work as a group. Teamwork is an important skill to learn, and while many adults prefer working on projects alone, teamwork is used in many different aspects of life, including parenting. Kids will learn how to communicate their ideas, how to compromise, that sharing is necessary, and they will understand that they are working together to achieve a common goal. This also is present while playing with other children. They will have to work together for their game to work out; they may not realize they are learning, but the fact is they are gaining the ability to work effectively with others.

Interacting and playing with other children will allow your children to see the world from another person’s perspective. While many adults still struggle with this, your children will learn the basics as they listen to other kids’ ideas and what their imagination can come up with. Two kids playing pretend can be a pretty magical thing. Next thing you know they will be battling dragons on top of the world’s tallest tree while they wait for the help of the noble unicorns. You never know, maybe adults can learn a thing or two about perspective and imagination from kids. As your children gain the ability to see things through a different person’s point of view they are more likely to be able to understand their responses and respond better themselves in different situations.

This is another great reason to encourage your children to socially interact with others. Friendships are a special thing, but for children, especially at school, friendships offer them a sense of belonging and allow them to develop a self-esteem. Children need friendships throughout school to help them feel like they are part of a group and are liked. They will feel more confident if they have friends, and this could also help them be more outgoing. Building friendship will also help to further develop their social skills, understanding of social cues, communication skills, and ability to work with others. If they fight, they will learn how to deal with issues better and figure out how to handle this tricky situation.

Social interaction is important for kids. They learn, develop, and grow a lot from being around others and having social experiences. Allowing your children and encouraging them to be more social and have social interactions can help them to develop these important life skills. At Yellow Brick Road, your children will get plenty of social interaction, both with other kids and our staff. They will also have time to work independently and explore what interests them.

At Yellow Brick Road, we work hard to give your children the education they need to learn and develop the important skills they will need throughout life. Enroll your kiddos today and help them experience more social interactions and develop these important skills. Contact us with any questions you may have.

Conversation and social skills

​Children communicate from birth, and social interaction is a key purpose of language learning.​

Most children are innately social, creative and motivated to exchange ideas, thoughts, questions and feelings … [They use] gestures, movement, visual and non verbal cues, sounds, language and assisted communication to engage and develop relationships…
- VEYLDF (2016)

As children develop, they use verbal and nonverbal communication for a range of purposes including showing, sharing, commenting, questioning, requesting (and more).

Through opportunities to observe and participate in social situations, children learn how conversation (and social interaction) works. These important social rules and skills enable children to communicate with others in more sophisticated ways.   

Thus, the development of conversation and social skills is dependent upon opportunities for children to interact with peers and adults, as part of supportive and enriching experiences.

Children use nonverbal (including eye gaze, gestures) and verbal communication (including speech, vocabulary, and grammar) to engage in conversation and social interaction:

Children’s wellbeing, identity, sense of agency and capacity to make friends is connected to the development of communication skills, and strongly linked to their capacity to express feelings and thoughts, and to be understood.
- VEYLDF (2016)

By planning experiences with a focus on conversation and social skills, educators can promote positive interaction and communication. This can help children to successfully communicate their wants and needs, and nurture meaningful relationships with peers.

The following ages and stages are a guide that reflects broad developmental norms, but does not limit the expectations for every child (see VEYLDF Practice Principle: High expectations for every child). It is always important to understand children’s development as a continuum of growth, irrespective of their age.   

Early communicators (birth - 18 months)

• communicate mainly with gestures, vocalisations, and facial expressions
• from 8 months, start to use gestures/vocalisations/eye gaze for:
  
  • requesting
    
  • refusing
    
  • commenting
    
  • communicative games (e.g. peek-a-boo)
    
  • calling to get attention

Early language users (12 - 36 months)

From 12 months, start to use words as well as nonverbal communication for:

• expressing feelings, like ‘look! doggie!’
  
• requesting, like ‘Up!’ or ‘bottle’ (with gestures)
  
• refusing, like ’no apple!’
  
• commenting, like ‘ball!’ or ‘big ball!’

From 18 months:

• requesting information, like ‘what this?’
  
• answering questions, like Educator: ‘Do you like the sand?’ Child: (nods) ‘Yeah!’

From 24 months:

• start to use “please”
  
• begin to stay on one topic of conversation
  
• take multiple turns in a conversation
  
• request repetition if they do not understand

Language and emergent literacy learners (30 - 60 months)

• take longer turns in conversation
• begin to understand and use “politeness”, when expected by adults
• begin to communicate their wants and needs more clearly (may start to ask for permission)
• may use language for jokes or teasing   
• will engage in longer conversations (4-5 turns)

From 42 months, begin to use language to:

• report on past events
  
• reason
  
• predict
  
• express empathy
  
• keep interactions going

Children’s learning of social skills can be powerful additions in their communicative toolkit. When children can communicate their wants and needs, it facilitates their ability to get along with others. Thus, social skills are closely linked to children’s language development. They also have links to children’s wellbeing, identity, and emotional development (see VEYLDF, 2016).

Some key social skills that children develop include:

Greetings and farewells

• starts with eye contact, smiling, and eventually a waving gesture
• phrases like: ‘Hello’, ‘Hi’, ‘How are you?’ ‘I am well, thank you’ and ‘Bye’, ‘Goodbye’, ‘See you tomorrow!’, ‘Have a nice weekend!’
• important for maintaining relationship and starting/ending interactions productively.

Commenting   

• begins with eye contact, pointing, vocalisation, and then single words
• provides a starting point for joint attention, with phrases like: ‘Look at the …’ ‘I like …’ ‘What a nice …’
• develops into more sophisticated comments like ‘I have a doll like this at my house’, ‘The hat you chose today is very bright!’
• provides opportunities to start and maintain conversations
• can be used to stay on a conversation topic, or change topics
• children share their interests; and show interest in what others are doing/saying.

Requesting

• begins with eye contact, grabbing/pointing/”up” gestures, vocalisations, and then single words
• requests can be for food/drink, ‘more’, ‘again’, wanting a turn
• develops into requesting help, and asking for permission
• eventually involves using ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ when these are reinforced.

Joining in

• knowing when and how to join groups/games/conversations
• initially using eye contact, gestures, vocalisations, and single words to join in play
• eventually using requests like: ‘Can I play?’; or general openers like ‘What are you doing?’

Sharing

• sharing toys, space, turns etc.
• from a developmental perspective, sharing is not expected to be easy for young children
• providing modelling and reminders of how to share is important
• allowing children the freedom to play independently (and not having to share) is also important sometimes
• eventually, sharing is an important social skill linked to the emotional competencies like empathy and taking others’ perspectives.

Negotiating

• managing disagreements and coming to solutions>
• this involves taking the perspective of another child, which is developmentally challenging, and is typically easier later in childhood<
• mostly scaffolded by adults during early childhood
• relates to notions of agency, identity, and how we understand the view of others (empathy)
• in older children, is an important social skill, so that children learn to reach compromises independently.

Complimenting 

• develops later in early childhood, involving children providing comments which have a positive impact on others
• is modelled and facilitated by educators
• is linked to empathy and socio-emotional awareness.

Topics

Every conversation has a topic. A go-to conversational topic for adults is the weather! For children, topics usually come from their experiences of the everyday world around them (e.g. people, food, drink, toys, pets, games, sand, transport, animals, paint etc. ).   

It is important to expose children of all ages to more abstract topics (e.g. emotions, sustainability, culture). However, we only start to expect children to contribute ideas and actively engage in conversations about more abstract topics when children are older (~3 or 4 years old).

Educators can use their observations of children’s interests and communication to help choose particular conversational topics. These conversations can also be linked to learning themes (e.g. relationships, the environment, animals, family etc).

Turns

Conversations are similar to a tennis game — one speaker has a turn, then the other speaker has a turn. So, conversations are simply turns going back-and-forth between speakers, usually staying on a particular topic.

Like in tennis, some turns might be longer than others, like when a speaker talks about something they know for a number of sentences in a row. In a good conversation, all speakers do a similar amount of speaking and listening.

The turns children make are initially very short (a gesture, eye gaze, vocalisation, or a single word). These turns develop into phrases, sentences, and longer stretches of language.
Playing in ways that encourages back-and-forth turn-taking with children (using a physical or vocal game) is a great way to get ready for conversational turn-taking.

Listening and empathy

Being a good conversationalist is as much about listening, as it is about speaking. Listening is also closely linked to the development of empathy, as we need to listen to others to understand their perspectives.

We can scaffold children’s interest and concentration on other people’s ideas/conversational turns by:

• by modelling good listening, ourselves
• reminding children of what others’ have said, and what their ideas were
• playing listening/memory games
• praising children when they demonstrate good listening and empathy.

Nonverbal communication

Communication is not just about the words we use. Our nonverbal language can often say a lot more than our actual choice of words! Below are some important types of nonverbal communication.

Prosody (loudness, pitch, and speed that we speak)

• different volumes and speaking rates are appropriate depending on the context
• for example outside versus inside; naptime versus storytime versus playtime.

Facial expressions and eye contact

• shows emotions and interests
• can be used to interpret people’s frame of mind
• important for demonstrating you are listening and interested.

Body language and gestures

• gestures (including showing and requesting) communicate much of children’s intentions
• the way we face our bodies towards others, or use our arms and hands during conversation can also communicate our thinking.

Maintaining conversations

Topic maintenance is the ability for children to stay on a particular topic for several turns in a conversation. This develops gradually in early childhood, with the number of turns on a given topic typically increasing with age (Paul, Norbury, Gosse, 2017):

• up to 24 months: usually 1-2 turns
• 24-42 months: approximately 2-3 turns
• 42 months onwards: approximately 4-5 turns.

Educators can support children’s topic maintenance by scaffolding conversations on particular topics (e.g. ‘Wow, look at the …’, ‘What was your favourite part, [child’s name]?’, ‘What do you think about this?’

When interacting with others, there are certain social and conversational rules and conventions specific to certain cultures. These rules are known as pragmatics, and are thought of as the “use” component of oral language (Bloom & Lahey, 1978).

According to Halliday (1975), children are motivated to develop language because of the different functions it serves for them (i. e., learning language is learning how to make meaning). He identified seven functions of language that help children to meet their physical, emotional and social needs in the early years. The functions enable children to use language to meet their physical needs, regulate other’s behaviour, express feelings, and interact with others. As children get older the language functions become more abstract and enable interaction within the child’s environment.

Studies show that children are born ready to make meaning out of a wide range of sounds, but their language development requires conversations with more-knowledgeable speakers who listen and model appropriate language.

Children do not learn language by imitation. They learn to talk by talking to people who talk to them; people who make efforts to understand what they are trying to say.- Raban, (2014, p.1)

According to the sociocultural theories of language development (Vygotsky, Bruner), children learn through interactions with more knowledgeable peers. Conversation and social skills are best supported through meaningful interactions with peers and adults.

Children learn with their peers, sharing their feelings and thoughts about learning with others. They begin to understand that listening to the responses of others can help them understand and make new meaning of experiences.
- VEYLDF 2016

When you choose conversation and social skills as a learning focus, you provide children with opportunities to develop meaningful relationships with their peers, educators, and families.   

Adults’ positive engagements with children promote emotional security, children’s sense of belonging, cultural and conceptual understandings and language and communication. Positive, respectful engagement also teaches children how to form strong bonds and friendships with others.
- VEYLDF 2016

The ability for children to interact with others successfully—by managing their emotions and behaviours—links to progress in a range of developmental areas in early childhood(Mashburn et al. , 2008). Success with social skills is strongly linked to the emergence of self-identity, sense of wellbeing, as well as social/academic progress in early primary school (e.g. Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2004).    

Children’s development of conversation and social skills is best supported when engaged in meaningful, sustained, and rich language experiences. Studies show that children’s social skills are best supported when educators are cued into children’s emotional/social needs (Mashburn et al., 2008)

• Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (2016)
• VEYLDF Illustrative maps

Outcome 1: identity

Children feel safe, secure and supported

• build secure attachment with one and then more familiar educators
• establish and maintain respectful, trusting relationships with other children and educators
• openly express their feelings and ideas in their interactions with others
• respond to ideas and suggestions from others
• initiate interactions and conversations with trusted educators
• confidently explore and engage with social and physical environments through relationships and play.

Children develop their emerging autonomy, inter-dependence, resilience and sense of agency

• increasingly cooperate and work collaboratively with others
• begin to initiate negotiating and sharing behaviours.

Children learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy and respect

• show interest in other children and being part of a group
• express a wide range of emotions, thoughts and views constructively
• empathise with and express concern for others
• reflect on their actions and consider consequences for others.

Outcome 2: community

Children develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active civic participation

• cooperate with others and negotiate roles and relationships in play episodes and group experiences
• take action to assist other children to participate in social groups
• build on their own social experiences to explore other ways of being
• participate in reciprocal relationships
• gradually learn to ‘read’ the behaviours of others and respond appropriately
• are playful and respond positively to others, reaching out for company and friendship
• contribute to democratic decision-making about matters that affect them.

Outcome 3: wellbeing

Children become strong in their social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing

• remain accessible to others at times of distress, confusion and frustration
• share humour, happiness and satisfaction
• increasingly cooperate and work collaboratively with others
• show an increasing capacity to understand, self-regulate and manage their emotions in ways that reflect the feelings and needs of others.

Outcome 4: learning

Children resource their own learning through connecting with people, place, technologies and natural and processed materials

• engage in learning relationships
• experience the benefits and pleasures of shared learning exploration.

Outcome 5: communication

Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes

• interact with others, express ideas and feelings and understand and respect the perspectives of others
• explore ideas and concepts, clarify and challenge thinking, negotiate and share new understandings
• express ideas and feelings and understand and respect the perspectives of others.

Modelling conversation and social skills

• use every interaction with children as an opportunity to demonstrate positive conversation and social skills
• encouraging turn taking in everyday activities through nonverbal turn-taking opportunities games (e.g. rolling ball back and forth, each having a turn during a construction or cooking experience)
• turn taking should involve multiple back-and-forth exchanges
• remember that children learn how to communicate by observing adults’ and older peers
• show how conversational topics can be maintained, and what good listening/empathy looks like

 Setting up opportunities for social interaction

• set up experiences and spaces that encourage interaction between small groups of children and with adults
• see the following teaching practices for ideas: play, sociodramatic play, fine arts, performing arts, as well as storytelling, reading/writing with children, and language in everyday situations
• use every experience and daily routine as an opportunity to develop conversation and social skills
• use engaging materials that allow for individual and shared play
• play games with children that involve turn-taking, sharing, and team work

Experience plans and videos

For age groups (birth - 12 months)

• Bathing Babies 
• Developing Conversation and Social Skills
• Getting Along with Others
• Making Meaning through Play 

Early language users (12-36 months)

• Bathing Babies
• Developing Conversation and Social Skills
• Getting Along with Others
• Making Meaning through Play
• Walk and Talk
• Worm Farm: Discussion around Texts

Language and emergent literacy learners (30 - 60 months) 

• Getting Along with Others
• Journey to Healesville: Learning through Drama   
• Print in Sociodramatic Play
•  Worm Farm: Discussion around Texts

Bruner, J. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Halliday, M. A. (1975). Learning How to Mean. London: Edward Arnold.

Mashburn, A. J., Pianta, R. C., Hamre, B. K., Downer, J. T., Barbarin, O. A., Bryant, D., … Howes, C. (2008). Measures of classroom quality in prekindergarten and children’s development of academic, language, and social skills. Child Development, 79(3), 732–749.

Paul, R., Norbury, C., Gosse, C. (2017) Language disorders from infancy through adolescence: Listening, speaking, reading, writing, and communicating (5th Ed.). Maryland Heights, MO: Mosby.

Raban, B. (2014). Talk to think, learn and teach (pdf - 1.14mb). Journal of Reading Recovery, Spring 2014, 1-11.

Victorian State Government Department of Education and Training (2016) Victorian early years learning and development framework (VEYLDF).Retrieved 3 March 2018.

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (2016) Illustrative Maps from the VEYLDF to the Victorian Curriculum F–10. Retrieved 3 March 2018.

Webster-Stratton, C., & Reid, M. J. (2004). Strengthening social and emotional competence in young children-The foundation for early school readiness and success: Incredible Years classroom social skills and problem-solving curriculum. Infants & Young Children, 17(2), 96–113.

Social interaction of children: search for hot spots

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Material Information

Preschool Psychology

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Material content

• Children's Social Interaction: Finding Hot Spots
• Social behavior of the child
• Stable behavioral if-then signatures
• Self-control weakens aggressive tendencies
• Graphical display of hotspots of the if-then stress signature
• All pages

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Vediko is a summer recreation camp in the New England countryside. In this camp, children aged 7-17 lived for six weeks in summer wooden houses.

They lived in small same-sex peer groups with five adult counselor caregivers. Children were enrolled in this program because of serious problems with social adaptation who appeared at home or at school, especially aggression, alienation and depression . All children came predominantly from families living in and around Boston.

The purpose of creating a psychotherapeutic environment in the camp was to develop in children more adaptive and constructive social behavior .

In the mid-1980s, my longtime research partner Yuichi Shoda and I were given permission to conduct a major research project at the camp, with the approval of the camp staff and personally Jack Wright, who headed the research department at Vediko. Jack, Yuichi, and the research staff systematically observed the children's behavior for six weeks.

Researchers diligently but unobtrusively recorded all the child's ongoing social interactions in the camp in various conditions and activities: while staying at home, at the lakeside and in the dining room, while doing art and crafts, etc. This there was extensive data collection work, and Yuichi and I collaborated extensively with Jack in planning the project and analyzing the results.

Observers recorded what each child did while interacting with other children in the same set of situations day after day throughout the summer shift. Jack, Yuichi, and I focused on analyzing the negative manifestations of the "hot" emotional system—primarily verbal and physical aggression—that brought these children to Vediko in the first place.

Strong emotions usually did not appear when children were stringing colored beads or swimming in a lake. This continued until all was well. But they became furious when one child deliberately destroyed a toy tower that another was diligently building, or responded to a friendly invitation to build a tower together with insults or rude ridicule.

To identify such "hot spots" - psychological situations that caused aggression in children , — the researchers first of all recorded what the children themselves and the educators answered to the request to describe other children in the camp. The youngest quantified the characteristics they gave to others: Joe pushing and screaming sometimes; Pete fights - all the time.

However, the descriptions given by counselors and older children became more conventional and contextualized in specific types of interpersonal situations that generated emotional outbursts—in "hot spots" that caused sensory distress. “Joe always loses his temper” might have been the first statement, but after a few other general phrases, the children began to specify the types of “hot” provocative situations: “If other children start laughing at him because of his glasses” or “If he is expelled from the game".

Based on these descriptions, the research team observed what each child did over and over again during social interaction in the camp.

Five types of such situations were identified: three negative (“the peer teased, provoked or threatened”, “the adult warned” and “the adult punished with “exclusion from the process””) and two positive (“the adult praised” and “the peer behaved friendly” ).

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Preschool Social Skills - Developing Social Skills in Children

Developing social skills is an essential element of education. A child with a high degree of socialization will quickly get used to kindergarten, school, any new team; in the future will easily find a job. Social skills have a positive effect on interpersonal relationships - friendship, the ability to cooperate.

Let's figure out what social skills are.

What are social skills and why develop them?

Social skills - a group of skills, abilities that are formed during the interaction of a person with society and affect the quality of communication with people.

Man is a social being: all our talents and aspirations are realized thanks to other members of the group. Others evaluate our actions, approve or condemn our behavior. It is difficult to reach the pinnacle of self-actualization alone.

This is why social skills are important. They should be developed from early childhood and honed throughout life.

Social skills are a reflection of the child's emotional intelligence, to which educators and teachers assign an important role in the process of personality development. Without this group of skills, a smart child will not be able to apply the acquired knowledge in practice: it is not enough to create something outstanding, you need to be able to correctly convey thoughts to the public.

Sometimes people mistakenly believe that social skills relate exclusively to the topic of communication, communication. In fact, skills include many multidirectional aspects: an adequate perception of one's own individuality, the ability to empathize, work in a team, etc.

Why do we need social skills?

1. Regulate the area of ​​interpersonal relationships: the child easily makes new friends, finds like-minded people.
2. Minimize psychological stress: children with developed social skills quickly adapt, do not feel sad due to changes in external circumstances.
3. They form an adequate self-esteem from childhood, which positively affects life achievements and development in adulthood.
4. Social skills cannot be separated from building a successful career: the best specialists must not only understand the profession, but also have high emotional intelligence.

Development of social skills in a child

Social skills need to be developed from preschool age, but older children and even teenagers may well learn to interact with the world.

It is recommended to pay attention to areas of life that bring discomfort to the child, significantly complicate everyday life.

1. Friends, interesting interlocutors: the kid does not know how to join the team, he prefers to sit in the corner while the others play.
2. Verbal difficulties. The child does not understand the rules of conversation, is poorly versed in the formulas of etiquette (when you need to say hello, say goodbye, offer help).
3. Problems with the non-verbal side of communication. Such a baby does not recognize the shades of emotions, it is difficult to understand how others relate to him. Cannot "read" faces and gestures.
4. Does not know the measure in expressing a point of view: too passive or, conversely, aggressive.
5. The child bullies classmates (participates in bullying) or is a victim.

In case of severe moral trauma, one should consult a psychologist: for example, school bullying is a complex problem that children are not able to cope with on their own. The involvement of parents and teachers is required.

In other cases, family members may well be able to help the child develop social skills.

What are the general recommendations?

1. Be patient

Don't push your child to finish things faster. Let them take the initiative: for example, do not rush to help during school gatherings, let the baby work on the problem on his own. The same goes for lessons and other activities.

2. Support undertakings

Children's dreams seem trifling to adults, but the initiative turns into a habit over the years and helps to discover new projects, meet people, and experiment.

3. Criticize the right way

When making negative comments, remember the golden rule of criticism: analyze the work, highlighting both positive and negative aspects in a polite way. Commenting on the specific actions of the child, and not his personality or appearance - this will lead to problems with self-esteem.

4. The right to choose

It is important for children to feel that their voice is taken into account and influences the course of events. Invite your child to personally choose clothes, books, cartoons. Ask about ideas, plans: “We are going to have a rest together at the weekend. What are your suggestions?

5. Personal space

Make sure that the baby has a place where he can be alone and take a break from talking. Personal things should not be touched: rearrange without prior discussion, read correspondence with friends, check pockets, etc.

Children, noticing the respectful attitude of adults, quickly begin to pay in the same coin; the atmosphere in the family becomes warm and trusting.

What social skills should be developed in a child?

Let's dwell on the main qualities and skills, the development of which is worth paying attention to.

1. The ability to ask, accept and provide help

Without the ability to ask for help, the child will deprive himself of valuable advice; the lack of the ability to accept help will lead to losses, and the inability to provide help will make the baby self-centered.

• Let the child help those in need: for example, a lagging classmate.
• Explain to your child that getting help from friends and teachers is not a shame.
• Show by personal example that mutual help enriches experience: tell how you exchange advice with colleagues, friends.

2. The ability to conduct a conversation and get the right information

Being a good conversationalist is difficult, but the skill is honed over time and brings a lot of benefits.

• Prompt your child for dialogue development options: for example, you can start a conversation with an appropriate question, a request for help.
• Do not leave the child in the role of a silent listener: discussing pressing issues at home, ask the opinion of the baby.
• Support children's public speaking: presentations at school, performances, funny stories surrounded by loved ones will add confidence.

3. Empathy

Empathy is the ability to recognize the emotions of others, put yourself in the place of another person, empathize.

This ability will make the child humane, prudent. How can it be developed?

• Start by recognizing the child's feelings - it is useless to listen to people if the person does not feel personal experiences. Ask your baby: “How do you feel after a quarrel with friends?”, “Do you want to relax today?”
• After conflicts with classmates, ask your child how the children with whom the quarrel may feel now.
• While watching cartoons, reading books, pay your child's attention to the emotional state of the characters.

4. Ability to work in a team

Many children can easily cope with tasks alone, but this is not a reason to refuse to work in a team. It gives the opportunity to exchange ideas and experience, delegate tasks, achieve goals faster and more efficiently.

• If the child does not communicate with members of the team, try to introduce him to another social group: for example, the lack of communication with classmates can be compensated by a circle of interests, where the child will feel calmer.
• Make the family a friendly team in which the child has his own "duties": for example, do housework, remind parents of upcoming events. Any activity related to the well-being of other family members will do.

5. Respect for personal boundaries

The absence of an obsessive desire to interfere in other people's lives is a valuable skill that helps to win people's sympathy.

• Respect the child's personal boundaries: do not enter the nursery without warning, do not rummage through personal belongings and correspondence, if the matter does not concern the life and safety of the baby.
• If the child violates other people's boundaries (takes toys without permission, asks uncomfortable questions), talk about it in private.

6. Ability to overcome conflict situations

It is difficult to imagine our life without conflicts. The task of the child is to learn how to culturally enter into a discussion, defend his point of view, and not be led by the provocations of his interlocutors.

• Talk about problems calmly, without raising your voice. Do not put pressure on the child with parental authority unnecessarily: the child is a separate person who has the right to an opinion.
• Do not judge people for views that differ from those of your family but do not affect your well-being. Show your child that the world is very different.
• You can demonstrate to children the basics of a civilized dispute, explain what arguments are, etc. It is advisable to teach this child in kindergarten.

7. Self-confidence

Stable and adequate self-esteem is a quality that not all adults possess.

It is formed under the influence of many factors: relationships between parents, the role of the child in the family circle, the characteristics of the environment that surrounded the child in early childhood.

It is important that the child does not grow up to be either a narcissistic narcissist with fragile self-esteem, or an overly shy person. How can you help your child find balance?

• Praise your child for personal progress: to receive a compliment from parents, it is not necessary to win prizes in school competitions.

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