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I heard our minister talk about teaching social skills the other day. Well, his topic was more about how family members interact, but it had a broader reach, as well.
It was quite interesting, the context that he used to get his message across. The entire premise was that, aside from teaching personal values, if the adults in the family would just come out of their own world long enough to ask one simple question, it would affect the entire mood of the family, and this ultimately could have a profound effect on how kids socialize. The question was, "what can I do to help?"
Now, I didn't come up with this, my minister did, but I got to thinking about the implications of this question. After using it for a while, would the kids in the family start to ask it, too? Wow. Now that would be something.
I started to think that one actually goes through some specific exercises when teaching social skills, and teaching children about money, for example. But teaching them how to find moments of selflessness -- of helpfulness to others -- that's something that they probably learn best by seeing in action. (The same is true with teaching children to pray, and teaching values.)
I started thinking about how often, in the craziness of our schedule, I just want my kids to do this, do that, and then get this or that done before we have to leave to go somewhere. But how often to I ask them, "what can I do to help?", and how would that change how they approach situations both within our family and outside our family if this question -- and the sentiment behind it -- became a regular part of how we interact?
For similar topics, come visit my website and check out the pages on "teaching children about manners", "teaching kids about respect", "teaching children the value of money", and "teaching children about diversity".
