Hansa Parashar
Social Skills to be cultivated in the children are as follows:
- Harmony: The children must learn the importance of being together and work together in a team. Through this the children will learn to cooperate with and help each other in need. They will also take the responsibility for their actions. For this the children should be divided as per the tasks assigned to each child in a specific team. For instance, a task of making a house with Play Dough is given to the kids. A team of 3 preschoolers is made. One student can select the color of the clay from which the house is made. The other can collect decorative material for the house and the third one will construct the house by coordinating with the other two.If there is any mistake committed all the three should asked for making improvements in a polite way.
- Being Truthful and Seeking the Truth: Through this the children will learn that committing mistakes is human and natural. But accepting the mistakes and coming forward with the truth can be termed as the act of Heroism.For instance, the children should be asked to play the role of student and teacher. The student does a mistake of not obeying to the teacher. As the teacher asks the student to clean his table and shifts the responsibility of making a mess on the table on the other student.Now the teacher seeks the truth by asking both the students and even those children who had seen something like this happening.The kid who will get the truth will be rewarded with a Peppa Pig bag etc.The kids will be inspired to perform better in such activities and gradually inculcate this habit in their daily life in just the blink of an eye.
- Exploring Oneself: The kids should be persuaded to participate in all forms of activities. If a kid enjoys playing football only everyday then he should be asked to play basketball, cricket etc. on 2 days every week by accompanying him in the game. Through this technique he will begin to develop in other forms of sports and expand himself in terms of his interests, strengths etc.
- Exploring BEYOND Oneself: He should learn to appreciate everybody, every act of kindness done to him/her no matter how small it may seem to be. He should learn to say ‘Thank You’ or giving compliments such as ‘You are a good cleaner’ to a Janitor, for instance.
- Empathy: The kids must be made to realize that every being in this world feels the pain and happiness in the same way as the humans do.For instance, each child should be made to water the plants and tell them the story that even those kids get fed by their parents so that they can grow in a healthy way that is why by watering the plants they are helping the plants in budding in a robust way.
The children imitate their parents, teachers and emulate them. Hence, the role of parents and teachers is paramount. Their behavior patterns will decide the future outcomes of their children. So, they have to take every step in a sensitive and delicate manner.
Rewards, token economies and positive reinforcement will go a long way to better the habits of little kids.
WE ALL ARE EQUALLY OBLIGATED TO NURTURE THESE TENDER SOULS INTO FLOURISHING HUMAN BEINGS. LET’S ALL TAKE ONE STEP TOGETHER EACH DAY TO TRANSFORM THIS DREAM INTO AN ACTUAL REALIZATION.
THE EARLIER THE BETTER…
