Skills Children Need Before Leaving the Nest: Communication

This week, I’ll be doing a series of blog posts on what skills children should learn before they leave their parents’ home and go out into the real world.

Communication Skills

This is something we all need to learn and are still learning even as adults.  Children must learn to communicate to get what they want or get something accomplished.  Here are some ways we can teach our children to communicate better:

• Interpersonal communication – builds better personal relationships
  • Whenever you visit someone, teach your children to introduce themselves to the host/hostess and say good bye to them when leaving
  • Children need to learn how to apologize to someone or forgive someone when the situation arises
  • When a child is new to the area, teach your children to include him or her in their activities to make the child feel welcome
• Public speaking –builds confidence to speak in front of a group of people
  • During bible study, each family member can read a chapter or recite a verse in front of the family
  • 4-H has a public presentation project where the child is judged on his presentation skills
  • Join a debate team to learn how to give persuasive and impromptu speeches

Are there other ways you can help your child communicate better?

Stay tuned and find out what other skills your children will need to know before leaving the nest…

photo credit: Adrien.Pâris.