Effective Ways of Communication With Children

Communicate with your child today. So that they will be able to communicate with the world tomorrow- Sharmila Gurung

The freedom to communicate starts at home. This quote resonates with me as my childhood had refined communication. Any opinion or conversation that I start had to be predefined in such a way that the person at the receiving end perceives it to be. This appeared to be a drawback when I had the opportunity to speak on a public platform and I stammered. I considered it a personal challenge to overcome it. Should the future generation face the same challenge as well? Why can’t they be confident communicators regardless of the platform?

Research suggests that the best parent-child relationships are characterized by positive communication and interaction during the early years. When parents stay in touch with children through attention and conversation, children might be less likely to act out or behave in ways that create conflict or require discipline.

Here are some ways that would help the parents to have effective communication with their child

1) Appreciate and acknowledge:

As a parent, it is necessary to appreciate and acknowledge your child’s initiatives and good behavior.  Every small gesture or a kind word reinforces helping behavior and good feelings.

2) Teach them to take their stand:

Communication is an important aspect of good social behavior, but the child needs to differentiate between the aspects that they agree upon to the values that they believe. Teach them to stand for the value that they have learned. This will help them to communicate and raise their voice for the right thing at the right time.

3) Constructive criticism is necessary:

Feedback from parents and teachers is crucial for the development of the child. Criticism should acknowledge the efforts made while underscoring areas of improvement. This will give your child the feeling of being recognized for their efforts. It will also inculcate closeness between the parent-child relationships. You will thus be a role model or a guardian angel for your child.

4) Value their opinion:

Involving the children in the family’s decision-making process presents them with opportunities to think laterally while enhancing their self-worth. It also teaches them when and where to give what kind of opinions and helps them to be aware that their opinions will not be always accepted but will be considered.

5) Emphasize building social equations:

Every child needs to engage and socialize to learn and develop their social skills. Engaging with friends and peers helps them to appreciate and acknowledge other’s feelings while helping them sharpen social skills en route.

6) Give them responsibilities:

It is a common human nature that more doubts occur when you practice something for real. If that theory was applied here by giving responsibilities to your child at home, they tend to ask doubts about it to give their best at fulfilling the responsibility. This will increase their time with the family which in turn will help them to develop their communication skills.

7) Tone of communication:

Action speaks louder than words and words have so much power to create a big impact on the listener. The tone of the word is equally important. The road to miscommunication is paved by the tone and wrong usage of words at circumstances. It is important to involve your child and be a model during situations where you have to indirectly teach them the tone of communication. Their observation will be their teacher.

The world is a complex space but let us not make that affect the future generation. Let’s bring them up as responsible citizens of society just by starting an initiative at home.

Let us keep working on the communication skills at home. Yes, it can be hard at first but trust me, It’s worth it.