Tag Archives: social skills

ADHD & Focus, Child Health, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Tips for developing social skills for your child

As kids grow and start interacting with friends and family, they begin developing social skills by learning scripts for how they should behave in certain situations.

But for children with learning disabilities, this can be challenging. These activities can help strengthen their understanding of social scripts which will help to build their confidence in social situations.

 

Social skill building activities

  • Read or tell your child stories about friendship and social interaction. Explain what made the interaction successful
  • Role play social interactions your child struggles with so they get the practice they need
  • Explain facial expressions and body language to your child using real-life examples that the two of you have experienced together
  • Start a story involving social interaction and ask your child how they would handle the situation. Coach them if necessary.

 

Putting the social skills to practice

Once your child gets some practice with social scripts, it’s time to let them put their skills to the test.

Let them spend time among their friend and other peers. Sometimes the best way to learn a new skill is to be immersed in a situation and learning first hand – same goes for building social skills.

You can also get them involved in activities that introduce them to new people.

Extracurricular activities such as sports, summer camp or art classes will expose your child to new people and new situations, giving them another opportunity to learn social scripts and find new activities.

Another great way to teach these social scripts to your child is to talk with them whenever possible.

Eating dinner as a family, shopping together or just simply asking your child about their day will all provide opportunities to interact and build their social skills.

 

Child Fitness, Martial Arts, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Recess is necessary for proper child development

Schools are in a tough spot these days.

Between the pressures to meet minimum student performance standards and needing to work within slimmer budget constraints, recess has become an expendable program. More time is spent in class and fewer resources are needed for playground supervision and maintenance.

It is a decision that seems straightforward on the surface but, as it turns out, could have a host of negative unintended consequences.

 

Grades could suffer

Many studies have been conducted on the relationship between recess and grades. The results indicate that a mental and physical break from classes helps to refocus the kids’ attention span and burn off extra energy that is distracting in the classroom.

Kids are naturally active and curious about the world around them. They are not well suited to extended periods of prolonged concentration such as sitting in a classroom without some form of mental and physical break.

After sitting for a while kids (as well as adults) start to get fidgety and cannot concentrate on what they should be. The mind starts to wander and the lessons being taught in the classroom become

Recess is also the time where kids can interact with their peers, learning through shared experience and building social development skills. These are lessons that can’t be taught from a book. They have to be experienced to learn from.

 

Improved health

Another huge concern for schools these days is the physical health of their students. Recess affords kids an opportunity to run and play which helps to burn calories, build muscle and provides aerobic exercise.

With concerns over childhood obesity and related illnesses, providing a health school lunch does very little good if they aren’t allowed time to exercise. And with gym classes being cut as well, some students don’t get any physical activity at all while at school.

Schools across the country are starting to realize that eliminating recess is a poor option for them and their students. In some cases, recess is making a comeback which is good news for the overall happiness and well being of the students.

 

Fitness, Motivation, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Fun Activities That my Girls Actually Want to Do

Emily, guest contributor

There is this awful and horrible fact that you have to face when you are a mother of two girls: they are becoming teenagers and you are not the center of their world anymore.

Yes, you will stop being that fun mom, and that person that brings the smile and excitement to their faces, just by showing up in their room. Less and less common activities and less and less time will be given to you. You are ceasing to be the main superstar of their lives. But you can still grab some attention from your teenage girls, if you think hard and come up with some fun activities that you can do together with them.

 

Make a Fashion Show or Photo Session

Everybody nowadays has a smartphone with a great camera. Your girls will always want to go shopping, but besides that, they will also want to look good. You don’t have to spend a ton of money shopping each time you want to spend some time with them. Organize your own fashion show or photo shooting during which they will be models. This is a great way to reorganize the closet as well.

 

Organize the Movie Night

Just watching a movie together is fine too, but make it a real movie night. Spend some time together, looking for movies to watch and rearrange the living room into a real cinema. Don’t forget the snacks and drinks. If you like and have a time, show you kids how to make snacks and bake them yourselves. In this way, you will have a whole day of preparations and activities so that you get two more extra hours, watching a nice movie. Choose the films together and prepare some tissues if it’s a sad movie!

 

Organize Your Own Spa Day at Home

Make your home men-free and have your daughters enjoy the day with you in a spa that you will make from your home. This includes preparing all sorts of facial and body scrubs, a lot of nail polish, home-made masks and many other fun things. There are tons of recipes online that show you how to prepare all these things at home. Also, this is a great way to spend time mixing up ingredients and pampering your daughters. Not to mention, this makes a perfect opportunity to show your girls how to take care of themselves and how to indulge themselves while making themselves beautiful at the same time.

 

Prepare a Meal

Now, this is a tricky one. At first, it may sound too much like a chore to your girls. Therefore, you have to make it look fun. Do it by beginning with their favorite meal and with making the whole thing more interesting by having rules like: “cook, but everybody has to dance/sing.” In this way, they will be more interested and they might just end up learning something.

Eating out is also very fun. All girls love to dress up so they can show up in public and show everyone just how beautiful they are. Fishing for good deals in local restaurants can often inspire you to try out a new place you haven’t been to, and you have a reason to get all dolled up as a family!

Be careful with too much food though, you want your kids healthy!

Whatever you do, try to make it look fun and interesting. Their childhood ends so fast, so make sure you make the most of it.

——

Emily is a mother of two beautiful daughters. She and her husband do everything they can to ensure the safety of their kids.

Self-Esteem, Social Skills, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

The ABCs of Social Skills

Learning how to get along with other people, developing what we call social skills, is necessary in order to become a functioning member of a family, a peer group or a classroom. This involves a process of trial and error that teaches our children to distinguish between self and others and to become aware of the impact of their behavior on others.

Because children are born with a social drive and a natural desire for approval this process generally progresses fairly quickly. But for some reason the development of the attitudes and skills required to interact with other people comes more easily for some children than it does for others.

What can you do, as a parent, to help your child if they are struggling with the development of social skills? Here are a few ideas. We’ll call them the ABC’s of social skills:

Always praise your child when he uses the appropriate social skills, particularly in areas with which he has difficulty. Positive reinforcement always has more positive impact on your child’s motivation than punitive action.

Be a great role model for your child. Because children learn by example your child will respond most effectively to your consistent and positive examples in social situations. Your child will watch and imitate your behavior in almost every situation.

Communicate and create a positive atmosphere for open interaction and conversation with your child. Explain your expectations to them and tell them why. Encourage them to come to you when they have questions and help them to determine the appropriate behavior for each situation themselves.

The bottom line is that, as parents, we serve as the primary examples for our children when it comes to the development of effective social skills. But activities like martial arts classes and other organized activities are structured to reinforce our examples and can provide your child with additional positive role models.