The Importance of Developing Communication Skills in Children
Post by
Coach Mike
If you're reading this article, you're probably a parent, a teacher, or someone else who works with children—and you're probably wondering why communication skills matter, and how best to teach them. In this article, we'll explain why communication matters and lead you to our best resources for education.
Why Are Communication Skills Important?
Communication skills are essential for the growth and development of children. They help children express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas in a clear and concise manner. Not only that, but they enable children to build relationships with others, develop problem-solving abilities, and become better decision-makers. Being able to communicate well can even increase their self-confidence.
For all of those reasons, it is important to encourage children to develop strong communication skills. This will be critical to helping them succeed in later life.
So, you may ask, how do we do it?
5 Tips for Teaching Children Communication Techniques
- Encourage Active Listening: Make sure your child is paying attention when someone else is speaking by asking them questions about what was said or asking them repeat it back in their own words. Bonus points if they actively ask questions!
- Model Appropriate Behavior: Show your child how to communicate in a respectful way, using proper grammar and body language. They will do as you do, not as you say!
- Practice Role Playing: Have your child practice communicating in different scenarios. Imagine speaking to different audiences or communicating with different mediums, whether those are spoken or written.
- Introduce New Language: Expand your child's vocabulary by introducing new words during conversations and explaining what they mean.
- Provide Feedback: Give your child feedback using the sandwich method, where constructive criticism is sandwiched between positive remarks to keep them feeling motivated and productive!
How Technology Can Help Children Develop Communication Skills
Digital technology has become an integral part of our modern lives, and although it may have drawbacks, it can also bring unique benefits.
In the education of communication skills, technology can look like online learning tools that help children learn vocabulary and practice listening, speaking, and writing. They might include interactive educational games or applications. The best of them also allow parents to track their children's progress.
LearningLeaders uses one such technology as a critical part of our learning method. Our goal is to deliver active, interactive, and reflective learning to our students, and our flipped classroom model supplemented by online material is the key to this.
But what does LearningLeaders do? Why is it relevant here? That brings us to our last section of this article.
The Benefits of Public Speaking and Debate
Teaching children public speaking and debate is ultimately one of the most effective forms of communication training. These activities not only develop children's critical thinking skills, persuasive skills, and confidence, but they've also been shown to boost their grades!
Delivering speeches in front of an audience may sound scary, but it's a great way to quickly develop communication skills as well as form bonds with other likeminded students. In particular, classes in debate and public speaking are safe spaces to get in as much practice as you may need.
With the right guidance, kids can learn how to express themselves clearly, listen attentively, and collaborate with others. They can build lifelong habits in the classroom and in any form of communication. And helping them prepare for this better future is LearningLeaders' mission.
Check out the different programs we offer or sign up for a free trial class here!
