One of the biggest challenges for a parent is teaching her child to socialize with other kids. Most parents would want their kids to be able to mingle well with other children. But you won’t be able to control your child’s impulses, especially when they feel threatened by other kids. If you really want your child to improve her social skills, you can enroll them in some toddler classes in Phoenix. But before they start going to the nearest daycare center, you can start preparing them and yourself to be more sociable by following these suggestions:
Teach them empathy
It’s important to teach your child empathy because developing this skill will enable them to be considerate of other people’s feelings. When they develop this skill, they’ll be abler to win their peers’ trust. One of the ways you can help your child develop their sense of empathy is to talk about another child’s feelings.
You can talk to them about one of their playmates’ feelings. For example, in their daycare center, you might notice one of the children not wanting to play with the other kids. Bring this to your child’s attention and tell them that the little boy might not like to play with other kids because he is scared. Ask your child if they could comfort the little boy by sharing a toy with him or going over to his corner and just talk to him. This way, your child will learn to assess other people’s feelings and do the right thing for those people. In this case, the right thing is to befriend the scared little boy.
Don’t force them to share
Surprisingly, a lot of parents have been doing the wrong thing when it comes to child-rearing, and that is the notion of sharing. The idea that children will grow up to be better at socializing if they share all of their stuff with other kids during playtime is wrong.
Experts in child psychology say that forcing your child to share their toy with someone else when they’re still busy playing with it will actually reinforce in them the wrong behavior. Children at that age have not developed their sense of empathy yet. Instead of feeling good about sharing, they might resent it.
Monitor them in playgroups
Children have yet to develop their sense of empathy and self-control. Whenever they feel threatened, their first reaction is to hit someone. If your daughter suddenly feels anxious because another child has taken the toy they were playing with, talk to them. Ask them if they feel upset that another child has taken their toy. If they are upset, tell them that both of you could talk to the other child and ask for the toy back. When your child sees that you’re there to support them, they’ll feel more at ease. When they see that there is a more peaceful alternative to simply hitting someone for upsetting them, then they can learn to be more forgiving.
Teaching your child to develop their social skills can help them build strong relationships with their peers at a very early age. If they learn these skills early on, they’ll be more likely to retain these skills when they grow up, enabling them to be a confident and empathetic individual.
