A child brings happiness, and not to forget – a whole lot of responsibilities, as parents gear up to bring up the child in the best possible manner. One of the aspects, which give parents many thoughts, is the social behavior of their child. Nothing pains a parent more than seeing his child as a loner. It is a truth that social skill is one of the most essential traits for a successful life and acts as an advantage for the child. There can be various reasons for the lack of social skills in a child. It could be for some kind of learning disability – characteristic of the Asperger Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder and other such neurological disorders. A child can also exhibit lack of social skills simply because he feels insecure, hesitant or even frightened in a situation. Parents need to identify the area of problem of the child and act accordingly. It is not such a difficult task to do, what is required is a proper strategy to build up your kid’s social skills, a lot of patience and faith in your child.
1. Be the first friends to your kids
The social contact of a child begins the moment he is born. He starts learning to adapt and respond to his environment. At this stage parents need to shower him with all the love and attention to make the child feel secured. The child generally likes to see new visitors but prefers his mom and dad to others. By the age three, he is able to make friends and exhibits social skills.
2. Communicate
There is nothing to worry if your toddler is shy in a social gathering or in school. You need to give him time and understand his problem. From the very beginning, you need to be the best friend of your child. Communicate with him even though he may not respond to you very often. Inquire about his school environment and try to find out if he is facing any problem there. A child often gets intimidated in a large group and if he is not habituated to play in a big group then he may feel lost. The solution to this is to find playmates for your child in your neighborhood. You can organize a simple ice-cream party at your place and invite a few kids to come over. This way your kid will get a chance to mingle with children of his age and develop social skills.
3. Extra-curricular activities
The next successful technique is to enroll your child in some extra-curricular activity class of his preference such as an art class, craft or even sports classes. This is an amazing way through which he will find kids who share the same interests and will love to spend time with them. Generally, these classes are conducted in a group and your kid will get a chance to interact with others and eventually learn to make friends. You can talk to your child’s teacher at school and explain to her the needs of your child. Teachers play a successful role in sowing the first seed of friendship in the young minds.
4. Your role as a parent
A child can analyze things well; all you need to do is to explain to him in an interesting manner that friends play a major role in life. You can narrate to him stories on friends and make him understand the advantages of having friends. There will be times when he will come and complaint about the rough behavior of his peers, you need to listen to him patiently and help him ignore the incidents. At best, you can teach him to choose friends wisely – who match with his temperament. You can always encourage him to greet the guests at home to gain self-confidence. Conversing with strangers or managing a simple “hello” can go a long way to chisel his social abilities.
5. Be patient
In some cases, shyness in children is just a passing phase and they overcome it very quickly. Nevertheless, a wrong attitude, compulsion or anxiety of parents could have negative effects on their child’s psyche. Ideally, you should always praise your child for something good he has done. A strong support and love is what takes to make him bounce back in form. Every child is unique and possesses special qualities, the effort should not be to change him but to nurture him and help him grow into a balanced human being.
