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Social skills of a 6 year old


Play and Social Skills Development Checklist

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Instructions: Answer all questions up to your child’s current age bracket by answering ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

Interpretation: If you tick 2 or more boxes with a ‘Yes’ contact Kid Sense Child Development on 1800 KIDSENSE (1800 543 736).

Does your child have difficulty with:

 Age Skill   Yes No 
0-6 months Establishing eye contact (for a few seconds).
Smiling when socially approached.
Laughing in response to play
Calming/settling (cries frequently).
Manipulating and exploring objects.
6-12 months Establishing eye contact (for a few seconds).
Smiling when socially approached.
Laughing in response to play.
Calming/settling (cries frequently).
Manipulating and exploring objects.
Playing peek a boo.
Clapping when prompted.
Spontaneously lifting arms to parent.
Spontaneously extend toys to others.
Responding to facial expressions.
Imitating an adult’s actions.
Spontaneously placing a doll with head upright and vertical to the ground.
1-2 years        Establishing eye contact.
Smiling when socially approached.
Laughing in response to play.
Calming/settling (cries frequently).
Manipulating and exploring objects.
Clapping when prompted.
Spontaneously lifting arms to parent.
Spontaneously extend toys to others.
Responding to facial expressions.
Imitating an adult’s actions.
Spontaneously placing a doll with head upright and vertical to the ground.
Identifying self in mirror.
Spontaneously looking for hidden objects.
Role playing simple actions previously seen.
Imitating a pretend play action (e.g. giving a drink) or demonstrating play related to their body (e.g. sleeping, eating).
Saying ‘hi’, ‘bye’ or ‘please’.
2-3 years Spontaneously looking for hidden objects.
Role playing simple actions previously seen.
Imitating a pretend play action (e.g. giving a drink) or demonstrating play related to their body (e.g. sleeping, eating).
Verbalising their desires/feelings (e.g. ‘I want a drink’).
Treating dolls or teddies as if they are alive.
Playing beside other children.
Using symbols in play such as a stick becoming a sword (beginning to).
Engaging in play themes which reflect less frequently experienced life events (e.g. visiting the doctor).
3-4 years Treating dolls or teddies as if they are alive.
Playing beside other children.
Using symbols in their play such as a stick becoming a sword.
Engaging in play themes which reflect less frequently experienced life events (e. g. visiting the doctor).
Playing with mechanical toys.
Taking turns with other children.
Playing with 2 or 3 children in a group.
Engaging in play themes which expand beyond personal experience (e.g. fireman rescuing people).
Talking about their feelings.
Feeling shame when caught doing the wrong thing.
4-5 years Playing with mechanical toys.
Taking turns with other children.
Playing with 2 or 3 children in a group.
Engaging in play themes which expand beyond personal experience (e.g. fireman rescuing people).
Talking about their feelings.
Feeling shame when caught doing the wrong thing.
Playing with other children with shared aims within play.
Playing imaginatively for instance playing in the home-corner, dressing up and cooking.
Engaging in games with simple rules (e.g. hide and seek).
5-6 years Playing with other children with shared aims within play.
Playing imaginatively for instance playing in the home-corner, dressing up and cooking.
Engaging in games with simple rules (e.g. hide and seek).
Engaging in play which includes themes never personally experienced (e.g. going to space).
Negotiating during play.
Engaging in well-organised play.
6-7 years Engaging in play which includes themes never personally experienced (e.g. going to space).
Negotiating during play.
Engaging in well-organised play.
Playing with small groups and making up their own games with rules.
Playing co-operative games but not usually coping with losing.
Enjoying play with other children of their own sex.
7-8 years Engaging in play which includes themes never personally experienced (e.g. going to space).
Negotiating during play.
Engaging in well-organised play.
Playing with small groups and making up their own games with rules.
Playing co-operative games (getting better at coping with losing).
Enjoying play with other children of their own sex.

 

This checklist was designed to serve as a functional screening of developmental skills per age group.   It does not constitute an assessment nor reflect strictly standardised research.

The information in this checklist was compiled over many years from a variety of sources. This information was then further shaped by years of clinical practice as well as therapeutic consultation with child care, kindergarten and school teachers in South Australia about the developmental skills necessary for children to meet the demands of these educational environments. In more recent years, it has been further modified by the need for children and their teachers to meet the functional Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) requirements that are not always congruent with standardised research.

Child development at 6-8 years

Child development at 6-8 years: what’s happening

Playing and learning
Your child’s play is complex now. At this age, children often play out ideas they’ve come across at school or in the media. For example, you might find yourself serving dinner to a scuba diver, a rock star – or maybe even the Prime Minister!

Because your child is better at controlling their own behaviour and emotions, your child copes better with games that involve rules, as well as with winning, losing and playing fair.

Your child also enjoys making friends and being a friend. Friendships give children a sense of belonging and help them learn and practise basic social skills like sharing and negotiating.

Friendships can also be challenging because friends can sometimes be bossy or cranky. Sometimes friends might even leave your child out. Most of your child’s relationships will be positive, but keep an eye out for signs of bullying.

Your child might also start to play more with children of the same gender.

Feelings
Children want to please the important adults in their lives, like parents and teachers. So you might notice that doing things the ‘right way’ becomes very important to your child. On the other hand, at times your child might seem over-confident.

Your child is easily embarrassed and sensitive to other people’s views and beliefs. In fact, your child has a lot of empathy when family and friends are distressed. But at times your child can be very self-critical and might need your help to focus on the things they do well.

You might notice that your child is more aware of disaster news and distressing news stories. This growing awareness can cause some anxiety and fear, so talking about tough topics can help your child make sense of things.

Thinking
Children have a much better understanding of the relationship between cause and effect. They begin to see how their actions affect other people, although sometimes they still seem self-centred.

Memory is also improving and your child can group objects according to size, shape and colour. Your child has a good understanding of numbers and can do simple maths problems like adding and subtracting.

Be prepared for a lot of questions as your child keeps exploring the world. Your child might do small experiments to see how things work. For example, they might fill up the toilet with soap and flush it, just to see what happens.

There’s a lot happening at this age, so don’t be surprised if your child gets distracted easily and forgets small requests and directions from you.

Talking and communicating
Children can follow more complex directions and use language to explore their thoughts and feelings. The average 8-year-old learns about 20 new words each day, mostly through being read to or reading.

Your child now has longer and more complex conversations, and you should be able to understand all of their speech.

By 8, your child is learning to voice opinions and tells stories with plenty of energy and emotion. Your child can follow a simple recipe, write stories based on daily life, write an email or instant message, and read independently in bed at night.

Moving
At this age, children enjoy testing their physical limits and developing more complex moving skills, like running in a zig-zag pattern, jumping down steps, doing cartwheels and catching small balls.

Your child is getting better at combining gross motor skills like running to kick a ball or skipping while turning a rope. These physical skills depend on how often your child practises them. Structured sports like dance classes, tennis and soccer all help, but plenty of opportunities to run, kick, throw, cartwheel and more are just as important.

Fine motor skills are well developed now, so your child can now brush teeth and do other daily hygiene tasks without your help. Your child can cut out irregular shapes and write smaller letters inside the lines in school books.

Daily life and behaviour
At this age, your child’s life is all about family, school, friends and after-school activities. Your child might enjoy collecting items like footy cards, shells or small figurines.

Your child’s morals and values are developing, and your child might share strong opinions about whether things are right or wrong. Children will also be more aware of what others are doing. This might lead to comparisons like ‘They’re better at drawing than me’ or complaints about siblings getting more of something.

Children are even more independent and want more say in what they can and can’t do. As part of this independence, they might enjoy doing more chores around the house – at least sometimes! But spending time with you is still important to them.

At this age, children might also:

  • like to tell jokes and talk up their skills or behaviour – for example, ‘I can eat 10 hamburgers at once!’
  • write numbers and words more accurately, but they might still confuse some letters – for example, b/d and p/g
  • have better reading than spelling skills
  • begin to understand the value of money and enjoy counting and saving
  • take more interest in their appearance and in clothing or hairstyle trends
  • be better at telling the difference between fantasy and reality
  • be interested in using technology and having screen time
  • understand that people often expect girls and boys to behave in certain ways because of their gender.

Helping child development at 6-8 years

Here are some simple things you can do to help your child’s development at this age:

  • Build your child’s self-esteem and self-confidence by recognising their strengths. Sometimes children’s self-esteem goes down in the primary school years as they become more self-critical and compare themselves with others.
  • Let your child see you trying new things and making mistakes. This helps your child understand that learning and improving invovle making mistakes, but the key thing is to never give up and to be kind to yourself.
  • Give your child opportunities to explore and learn, inside and outside. Inside they can experiment with things like cups, thermometers, magnifying glasses and jars for storing things. Outside you could explore your local park or nature reserve together.
  • Set aside some time for free play. Playing is still very important at this age. Let your child choose how they want to spend free playtime. Your child might want to go outside and throw a ball, jump rope or stay indoors and draw.
  • Read with your child. Reading is still very important for literacy development. As your child learns to read, try having your child read to you. You can also try literacy activities like telling stories or making your own book.
  • Encourage your child to be aware of the consequences of behaviour and see things from other people’s points of view. You can do this by asking questions like, ‘How do you think Jane feels when you do that?’
  • Share ideas and discuss important issues with your child. This helps you connect with your child and shows that you’re interested in their ideas. As your child gets older, allow them to join in family decision-making where appropriate.

Parenting a school-age child

As a parent, you’re always learning. It’s OK to feel confident about what you know. And it’s also OK to admit you don’t know something and ask questions or get help.

When you’re focusing on looking after a child, you might forget or run out of time to look after yourself. But looking after yourself physically, mentally and emotionally helps your child grow and thrive.

Sometimes you might feel frustrated, upset or overwhelmed. It’s OK to take some time out until you feel calmer. Put your child in a safe place, or ask someone else to look after your child for a while. Try going to another room to breathe deeply or call a family member or friend to talk things through.

Never shake, hit or verbally abuse a child. You risk harming your child, even if you don’t mean to.

It’s OK to ask for help. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the demands of caring for your child, call your local Parentline. You might also like to try our ideas for dealing with anger, anxiety and stress.

When to be concerned about child development at 6-8 years

See your GP if you have any concerns or notice that your child has any of the following issues at 6-8 years.

Communication and understanding
Your child:

  • has a stutter or lisp when talking
  • has difficulty following instructions.

Behaviour and play
Your child:

  • finds it hard to make friends
  • can’t skip, hop or jump
  • has trouble sitting still for a long time
  • is aggressive with other children
  • seems to be afraid of going to school, or refuses to go to school.

Everyday skills
Your child:

  • can’t get dressed or undressed independently
  • experiences daytime wetting or soiling
  • still has regular night-time wetting at 8 years.

You should see a child health professional if at any age your child experiences a noticeable and consistent loss of skills.

Children grow and develop at different speeds. If you’re worried about whether your child’s development is ‘normal’, it might help to know that ‘normal’ varies a lot. But if you still feel that something isn’t quite right, see your GP.

Development calendar: what a child should be able to do at 6 years old

Six-year-olds are on the verge of an important step - entering school. So that the child does not experience difficulties in the process of adapting to new conditions, and learning is easy, at this age it is necessary to pay special attention to the comprehensive development of the baby. In this article, we will tell you about the features of the physical, cognitive and socio-communicative development of children of 6 years old, as well as what skills and abilities it is desirable to form in a child before school.

Ideas about the surrounding world

By the age of 6, a child accumulates quite a lot of life experience, which forms his idea of ​​the world around him. The baby receives a lot of information from books, cartoons, walks, conversations with adults and games with peers. A six-year-old child must know:

  • His first and last name;
  • Your address;
  • Names of parents;
  • Seasons and their signs;
  • Names of months and days of the week;
  • Names of animals, birds, fish, insects, plants, vehicles, furniture, utensils, electrical appliances, etc.

Peculiarities of thinking of 6-year-old children

In general, the thinking of a 6-year-old child is characterized by figurativeness, children of this age are able to find non-standard and original solutions to problems, invent something new. Thanks to the developed imaginative thinking, kids create the most interesting drawings and crafts, build complex Lego structures and much more.

At preschool age, it is important to develop in a child not only the ability to act according to a ready-made model, but also to reinforce his desire to think creatively.

Logical thinking is also actively developing. Here are the skills and abilities in the field of thinking that children of 6 years old usually have:

  • Fairly good orientation in space;
  • Ability to pass labyrinths;
  • Solving puzzles, riddles, solving puzzles;
  • Comparison of objects by various parameters;
  • The ability to find similarities and differences based on the essential features of objects;
  • Ability to choose a generalizing word;
  • Establishing causal relationships;
  • Ability to draw conclusions and inferences.

Development of memory and attention at 6 years old

At 6 years old, a child can concentrate on one lesson for up to 30 minutes, especially if he is interested in it. Attention is still largely involuntary, but voluntary attention is also gradually developing. To improve the level of development of the preschooler's attention, exercises such as "find the differences", "what has changed?", "encryption" will go.

When performing monotonous and uninteresting tasks, a preschool child inevitably loses concentration. Therefore, it is necessary to interest him and take breaks in time to give the baby a break.

In six-year-old children, involuntary memory prevails over voluntary. But the amount of memory at this age is already large enough so that the child can memorize long poems and retell texts.

Speech development

The speech of a 6-year-old child is quite clear, by this age he should learn to pronounce all sounds correctly. If the speech of a baby of this age is incomprehensible, it is imperative to seek help from a speech therapist, since in the future the production of sounds will be more difficult.

The vocabulary of a six-year-old child is quite large. In a conversation, children of this age use all parts of speech, they are able to build complex and at the same time grammatically coherent sentences, select words that are similar and opposite in meaning (that is, synonyms and antonyms). The intonational side of speech is also actively developing: with the help of the power of the voice, the rate of speech, six-year-olds are able to subtly convey emotions. Dialogic speech of older preschoolers is better developed than the ability to conduct a monologue. If you see that in the process of the story the child's thoughts are confused, you can help him with questions or clarifications.

A six-year-old can develop coherent speech with simple games that can be played both at home and on walks, on the way to kindergarten or while driving. Ask the kid to tell what objects he sees, what passers-by do, what the street looks like. Together with your child, come up with different stories, completing sentences for each other. These games are very useful, simple and interesting for preschoolers.

Development of fine motor skills at 6 years old

By the age of 6 a child develops the following skills:

  • Hold a pen correctly;
  • Stroke nicely with dots;
  • Draw by cells;
  • Draw straight and wavy lines without lifting your hand;
  • Sculpt compositions with small details from plasticine;
  • Cut with scissors;
  • Thread a needle.

Watch the video about ways to develop fine motor skills in children of 6 years old:

Gross motor skills

A six-year-old child is physically well developed. He skillfully controls his body, and his movements are quite coordinated. In the field of gross motor skills, a 6-year-old child can:

  • Walk along the line and crossbar;
  • Jump over obstacles;
  • Stand and jump on one leg;
  • Hit the ball on target;
  • Climb a rope ladder and more.

Social skills of a six-year-old child

In the seventh year of life, children develop such important life skills as the ability to work in a team, help, sympathize, negotiate, control their emotions. Children of 6 years old have a fairly wide circle of communication, they feel confident among unfamiliar people (especially in the presence of relatives), they can carry on a conversation with adults. Among their peers, six-year-olds find real friends.

The main skills that contribute to social adaptation are formed in children during the role-playing game - a generalized and simplified version of real adult life.


Conclusions

So, a six-year-old child is already a fully formed personality, with his own interests and ideas about the world. He is well socialized and can follow social norms and rules. His cognitive processes are actively developing: memory, attention, thinking and speech, imagination, fine and large motor skills are being improved. Of course, it is impossible to talk about strict norms for the development of preschool children, but the points described in the article can serve as guidelines for parents. Indeed, in the preschool period, it is especially important to pay attention to the fact that the baby is not doing as well as we would like in order to fill in the gaps in time.

Conclusion

Specially for children of 6-7 years old in the children's Montessori Club "Sozvezdie" a course "Express preparation for school" is opened. Preparatory classes cover all the necessary areas of knowledge for the future student: the world around, counting, reading, writing, expanding vocabulary, creativity, and also prepare kids for communication in the school team. Our graduates are fully prepared for school, and the training itself is easier and more successful for them. We are waiting for your child in our classes!

Prepared by a Montessori teacher
Malysheva Evgeniya

Social skills of preschoolers - the development of social skills in children

The development of social skills is a necessary point 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.

That 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 get things done. 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: you need to analyze the work, highlighting both positive and negative aspects in a polite manner. 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 give 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 the 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 feelings. 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 unannounced, 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?