Are Your Children Social  Skills Savvy?

By Chris Nelson and a Parent Committee

  When teaching our children about social skills, we are really teaching them how to interact with others. It is our behavior that is the key to our young children learning these skills. It is critical that we Model the social skills we expect our children to demonstrate. We must also Pre-Teach our expectations.

  This month, concentrate on these 4 main areas regarding social skills: Important words, care of self, table manners, and general living. Below you will find some specific skills for each. Spend time discussing them with your children.

  Pre-teach the behavior you desire. Practice those behaviors by role-playing, and model the behaviors as parents.

  Important words:  Please, Thank you, Excuse me, I'm sorry, Hello, I made a mistake, Goodbye.

  Care of Self:  Keep clean.  Pick up after yourself.  Dress properly. Don't interrupt. Don't swear.

  Table Manners:  No elbows on the table. Chew with your mouth closed. Don't tip on your chair. Don't complain about the food.  Ask to be excused. When you get up from the table, take what you are able.

  General Living:  Be quiet at performances. Clap as a sign of appreciation. When people visit, be courteous. Answer the telephone properly. Write or tell someone thank you when you are given a gift.

  As adult members of the School community, we can model the skill of social skills by following our Code of Ethics, "I will do my part to make our school a welcoming community."