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PARENTS
interaction skills – smiling, making eye contact.

Approachz skills – how to approach another person or a group.

Engaging skills – how to share, take turns, wait, follow rules, etc.

Friendship skills – how to include others, show appropriate affection,

etc.

Empathy – how to take perspective, to relate to others, and care for

them.

Communication skills – how to express oneself. How to listen and give

others space to express themselves.

Sense of humour – how to have a laugh!

Conflict resolution – how to manage disagreements in a socially

acceptable manner.
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1. The role of parents

 Parents play an important role in a child’s social

development. The way in which a parent or carer
interacts socially is a model for the child to learn from.
When you’re modelling (i.e. Exhibiting) certain
behaviours, your child is learning vicariously what is
effective. A child also learns through the guidance a
parent or carer gives to them during their observed
interaction with others.
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Parents can directly teach social skills by:

 Modeling

 role-playing

 Providing opportunites and practice new skills.

 Social interaction with other child

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 1. Model manners

 2. Assign classroom jobs

 3. Role-play social situations

 4. Large and small group activities

 5. Big buddies

 6. Class stories
 z Teachers roles

1. Model manners

If you expect your students to learn and display good social skills, then you need to lead by
example. A teacher’s welcoming and positive attitude sets the tone of behaivor between the
students. They learn how to intereact with one another and value individuals. For example,
teachers who expect students to use “inside voices” shouldn’t be yelling at the class to get
their attention. In other words, practice what you preach.

2. Assign classroom jobs

Assigning classroom jobs to students provides opportunties to demonstrate responsibility,
teamwork and leadership. Jobs such as handing out papers, taking attendance, and being a
line-leader can highlight a student’s strengths and in turn, build confidence. It also helps
alleviate your workload! Teachers often rotate class jobs on a weekly or monthly basis,
ensuring that every student has an opportunity to participate.
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3. Role-play social situations

As any teacher knows, it’s important to not only teach the students a
concept or lesson but then give them a chance to practice what they have
learned. For example, if we teach students how to multiply, then we often
provide a worksheet or activity for the students to show us their
understanding of mulitiplication. The same holds true for teaching social
skills. We need to provide students with opportunities to learn and practice
their social skills. An effective method of practice is through role-playing.
Teachers can provide structured scenarios in which the students can act
out and offer immediate feedback. For more information on how to set-up
and support effective role-playing in your classroom have a look at this
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5. Large and small group activities

In addition to the academic benefits, large and small group activities can give
students an opportunity to develop social skills such as teamwork, goal-
setting and responsibility. Students are often assigned roles to uphold within
the group such as Reporter, Scribe, or Time-Keeper. Sometimes these groups
are self-determined and sometimes they are pre-arranged. Used selectively,
group work can also help quieter students connect with others, appeals to
extroverts, and reinforces respectful behavior. Examples of large group
activities are group discussions, group projects and games. Smaller group
activities can be used for more detailed assignments or activities. For
suggestions on how to use grouping within your classroom, check out this art
6. Big buddies
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We know that learning to interact with peers is a very important social skill. It is just as important to
learn how to interact with others who may be younger or older. The Big Buddy system is a great
way for students to learn how to communicate with and respect different age groups. Often an older
class will pair up with a younger class for an art project, reading time or games. Again, this type of
activity needs to be pre-planned and carefully designed with student’s strengths and interests in
mind. Usually, classroom teachers meet ahead of time to create pairings of students and to prepare
a structured activity. There is also time set aside for the teacher to set guidelines for interaction and
ideas for conversation topics. Entire schools have also implemented buddy programs to enrich their
student’s lives. Here is an article that offers tips on how to start a reading buddy program.

7. Class stories
There are dozens of stories for kids that teach social skills in direct or inadvertant ways. Find
strategies to incoporate these stories in your class programs. You can set aside some time each
day to read-aloud a story to the entire class or use a story to teach a lesson. Better yet, have your
class write their own stories with characters who display certain character traits.