Ivana with best friend Nikita
Social skills and emotional development are very important aspects of our kids’ personality and upbringing. The way they mingle with others say a lot about their individuality as well as family background.
My daughter Ivana is a shy little girl. At age five, I can tell that she is an eloquent person but needs a bit of push when it comes to socializing with not-so-familiar faces or people she just met. Her confidence though bounces back as she becomes comfortable with the person after a short period of time. On the other hand, my three year old son can easily utter “Hi, hello, how are you? Good?” in a very confident manner even with strangers (that is, if he’s in the mood).
Kids’ personalities vary in the same way that we, adults, are all different. It is noteworthy though that social and emotional skills should be developed and nurtured during their early years.
One of the most exciting milestones for our kids is the day they start school. This is where their social skills will start to develop. This is when they learn how to express their emotions in various ways. They need to learn how to cope up with a bigger world, that is, outside home. They will realize that they need to be independent and be able to do things on their own, or ask others for help if needed, away from home and family.
What are the ways to help improve our kids’ social and emotional skills and make sure that they are on the right track?
*Encourage and support your kid and let her know that you are always there to help her if there are things that she thinks she needs your help.
*Make your child responsible at home by giving her chores that she can do all by herself without your assistance. Of course she may need instructions from you at the beginning. Once she realize that she can do things on her own and her help is appreciated, that will give her a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.
*Involve your kids in play group. A play group could be a bunch of kids from neighborhood or kids of your parent-friends. This is a good socialization not only for your kids but for yourself as well.
*Teach your kids the value of friendship. Loving and caring for friends can be expressed in simple gestures like sharing toys and spending time to play and have fun together. Teaching your kids that keeping healthy and happy relationship with their friends is very important makes them more sensitive to others’ needs and feelings.
Bear in mind that in everything that our children experience, it is always the parental and family support, love and understanding that mold them into beautiful and strong persons that we want them to be. As they say, the key to raising a responsible, smart and loving child is to shower him with love – unconditional love, that is.