COMMUNICATION WITH YOUR SCHOOL AGE CHILD
Your school age child (6 to 12 years) now talks in full sentences and has a good understanding of language. He asks many questions and is curious about the world around him. He can recount experiences and amaze you with the details he remembers. He is beginning to understand how his actions affect others. He can see things from different perspectives. With help from you, he can begin to set goals and to learn how to solve problems. He also enjoy playing with their friends.
TIPS FOR ENCOURAGING COMMUNICATION YOUR SCHOOLAGE CHILDREN: 6 TO 12 YEARS
• Have conversations with your child as often as you can.
• Ask questions that require more than a “yes” or “no” answer. Establish a regular routine with your child. Find a time (like you get home after school or childcare, while you are preparing dinner or when you are driving home at the end of the day) to establish a ‘talk about my day’ time.
For example: Each day ask – What made you laugh today? What made you sad today? Did anything make you mad today? What was the best part of your day?
The routine and consistency of the activity will allow him time to think about his day, put feeling and emotions into words and spend time practicing conversational skills.
• Use conversations to help your school age child to set goals and solve problems.
For example: your child has dancing school tonight, but she does not want to do her homework at childcare. Discuss with her different options she may have and the possible outcomes of each option to help her solve her problem.
• Encourage your school age children to talk about her feelings and to identify the reasons she feels the way she does.
• Often you may have to correct your school age child’s behavior. When doing this give the child a calm explanation on why you do not want him to engage in a certain behavior. When you communicate to your child the reasons why you want him to change his behavior it helps him to understand how his actions affect others.
For example: Your child is teasing another child who is wearing glasses. Explain to your child that the other child needs the glasses to see and the teasing hurts his feelings.
• Use conversation to help your school age children learn conflict resolution skills. For children at this age the relationships they are developing are very important. They experience conflict often with other children. Teach your child to use his voice. Act out pretend conflicts and how they can be resolved.
For example: If your child expresses to you he is having a problem with another child at school, practice what your child might say. Take turns pretending to be the offending child and the child with the problem. Help your child see different outcomes and responses.
• Help your child be aware of how her body language communicates messages.
For example: “When you roll your eyes at me, it makes me feel disrespected.”
• A good way to get children to communicate is to ask their opinion on subjects that affect them.
For example: “How did you enjoy the baseball game with dad? What do you think about how the game ended? I think they should have won, what about you.”
Always be respectful when talking with your school age child No question, feeling or emotions is not worthy of your attention. Be truthful and age appropriate when answering her questions.
One of the best ways your child can learn communication skills is by reading together with you. Often children may choose the same book every night and that’s ok. It’s not important what you read, but what’s important is that you are doing it together. Reading together helps the child learn about characters, plots and vocabulary used in the book. As your child learns to read, take turns reading. As you read make sure your child understands the meaning of the words used in the story.