A child needs proper and adequate social skills to connect with other children. Practice is important for social development and it can be divided into three stages, determining the social skills that need development, figuring out a way to teach the skills, and reinforcing lessons with the right resources. A child struggling with general shyness and social anxiety can become a friendly kid who is comfortable and ready to handle any social situations.
Teaching Empathy
Empathy is an important value that ought to be taught from a young age, by running through different scenarios and asking your child how other people might feel when certain things happen. This is important to understand and share the feelings of another by allowing your child to put his or herself in someone else’s shoes. You can let your child have his or her share of experience in different situations.
Practice social overtures
Children need to know the proper way to start a conversation, get someone’s attention, or join a group of kids who are already playing together. These kinds of situations can be discussed and brainstormed at the dinner table, or in the car on the way to school.
Go over taking turns
It is important to take turns and let other children have their fair share of play. Take the time to sit down and discuss what it means to wait, take turns, and share. It is a good value to build for the long run, and being considerate is something to cultivate in your kids as they grow up.
Explain Personal Space
It is important for everyone to have personal space, to feel comfortable and unwind in his or her own comfort zones. This should be explained to children so as they grow they can be responsible for managing their own time and also respecting the time of their parents, friends or classmates.
For nonverbal skills
You can guide your kids and help them recognise facial expressions and body language by watching kid-friendly TV shows. This can enable them to watch these TV characters and understand a certain type of action they would need to use in their daily lives.
For tone
You can tape-record different range of tones and emotions in your voice. Ask your child what they are, and explain how meanings change with them. You can also devise a simple game to teach them different tones and sounds. For instance, create cue cards which describe the different tones, sounds or expression such as sad or the sound of crying as compared to laughing. Accordingly, they will have to match the sound to the correct card.
For attention span
Children have troubles keeping attention and it is necessary to ensure they stay on point, pick a topic and provide them with a word or sentence limit. You will have to ensure that your child remains on topic, and is able to speak creatively or be adequately knowledgeable about the topic.
