Helping Your Child Develop Social Skills

*Collaborative Post

All children have unique strengths and weaknesses; things they’re good at and things they’re not so good at. As a result, each child needs a different type of support. Some kids need extra help with their homework, while others need to learn to be a little more independent. Lots of children are shy and need a push where their confidence is concerned. Parents can help their children develop the level of self-esteem they need to confidently socialise and build strong relationships. Here’s some advice from a pre-prep school in London.

Understanding emotions.

Teach your children about body language and explain to them how feelings can be expressed both verbally and through our actions. In understanding how different emotions are displayed, your child will learn to respond in an appropriate way, such as offering a hug when someone is crying. Of course, they can’t learn properly if they don’t put the behaviour into action, so it would be wise to arrange lots of play dates for your kids so they can interact. It’s crucial that they learn to share their toys and take turns, and just be a polite host in general. 

Join clubs and involve kids in extra-curricular activities

In addition to play dates, you might also want to encourage your child to join some clubs where they can meet new people and make new friends. As well as building relationships, extra-curricular activities well help your child with other important social skills, which will differ depending on the type of activity. For instance, if they join a football club, they will learn the importance of team work. Each child needs a different type of support, so trying several methods until you find something your child strongly responds to is key.

Be active and try new things.

Essentially, the trick is to encourage your child to be as active as possible and try new things. What’s more, you should always try to be a good role model; show your youngster how to respect others and what kinds of behaviour are not tolerable. As a result, your child will learn a model way to behave and how to let others behave around them.