Communication skills for children-

@Mom~o~pedia

Communication means confidently expressing ourselves.

Babies start communicating with their mothers through crying. The different types of cries for different needs.

As the child grows they express their needs and wants verbally. Support your child to speak about their needs so that they don't fear expressing their views. 

Parents are the first communicators of a child, which grow up with siblings, grandparents, teachers, friends, neighbours etc.

In communication along with speaking, listening and observing play a vital role. If you can speak but can't listen or listen but can't respond then your communication skills are not developed.

Children who are outspoken or extroverted tend to speak comfortably but can't wait to listen to others while children who are shy or introverted tend to listen comfortably but unable to respond.

Being a better communicator starts with being a good reader. I have seen many children in INDIA who lack communication skills, this is because they read less and thus leads to speaking less.

I as a parent have now learned that the things I lacked as a child should not repeat for my daughter. My parents raised me best in their way(no doubts) but still, I feel some things miss and that I want to change for my daughter. One of them is "communication skills".

I can write and speak on a medium(mobile etc) but as soon as I communicate face to face I am a bit uncomfortable, this is due to my communication skills. I want my daughter not to face this problem so I am working on it from now itself.

Communication is verbal and non-verbal. The non-verbal communications are actions, expressions, gestures, eye contact, body language and postures. 

Along with effective communication, a child should be taught to speak politely. This will help them to respect others and their opinion too.

We all have to live in a society, so better communication development will help them make friends easily, build strong relationships and maintain the relationship.

Kids with good communication can easily express their feelings and share their problems. This will help children with many health issues such as depression, low self-esteem etc

Nonverbal communication skills

Nonverbal communication is equally vital to development.

If a child is shy or afraid then his or her body language and facial expressions will speak more before the child speaks.

They should have eye contact with the person while communicating, this will show that they are interested in conversation and respect their opinion too.

With verbal communication, a child needs to understand non-verbal cues. Example: If Mom wants not to do that thing then she will cross her arms or roll her eyes for you to understand that the sign means "NO".

How to develop communication skills?

• Starting at an early age: 

"The early the better". Start the journey with read-aloud books, using expressions and hand gestures to communicate better. As the baby grows, continue with voiceovers. 

Reading plays an important role in language development which leads to better communication. 

Note: Language means any and not just English. To learn communication skills it is not just to speak and read English but develop communication.

 The early the child starts, he or she becomes confident in communicating. 

•  Improve yourself first:

Children learn from their parents, so improve your communication especially when your kid is around.

Watch your words and way of speaking and improve it to the way you want your child to be.

You might be not aware but kids observe everything about the people around them. From the way how you greet the guest, the way you speak on mobile, and the way you talk to their teachers.

 My daughter imitates me exactly like how I speak on mobile or make expressions while talking to babies etc. Earlier I wasn't aware that she is observing me😂but as soon as I came to know, now I take care of how I am speaking.

 

Remember, for children to speak well, parents need to pay attention to speaking with correct pronunciation and the right grammar. That way, children can learn how to speak from their parents.

 

•  Speaking with people around them will help them further in speaking with confidence. Once their confidence is low its very difficult for them to speak in public 

The easy way to teach kids is you should communicate with people you meet, for example: say good morning when you meet your neighbour, say hello to your child's friend, etc. This will make them understand that we need to communicate with people around us. 

• As the child grows up, you can improve their communication by allowing them to buy groceries, this will also benefit them with calculations and money management(this is for older kids). 

• Play storytelling with children:

           The story can be about sharing each other's daily routines. I and my daughter share what we did when we were not together or when she is in school. Also, what she did in school. Slowly this will make a habit for them and will feel comfortable communicating with you.

Also, you can play story games, in which you can make a story chain. Eg: If you start a story and then your child will continue with what will happen next. This will develop their confidence and also help them to make stories😁.(this game was suggested by shivaanshi's teacher😇).

The story card game is also interesting, you can make various cards and narrate the story to kids. For a twist, you can also ask your child "what will happen next?" with different expressions and voiceovers.

• Nonverbal communication development can be done by communicating with your child with eye contact and proper expressions. Seeing you they develop better.

I hope this post helps you in some way and we have good communicators in future.

All the information I have shared is in terms of baby-to-child development. 

Keep reading!