Developing Communication Skills in Children

Communication skills are vital to each and every one of us and I sincerely believe that the earlier we begin to master these skills in life the better off we will be. I believe that the adult should put all of his or her energies into developing the mind of the child beginning in infancy. Most of the child’s communication skills are the result of it’s temperament but there is much that we can do to help out in the formative years. These years are so important in a child’s life and are more often than not the difference between success and failure in the later years of its life. We as parents should use every possible opportunity to reinforce these skills and others in the life of the child. The biggest factor is the child’s psyche. Is the child an introvert or an extrovert? An introvert will be more reflective and less likely to develop excellent communication skills while an extrovert is a personality type which loves to have power over his or her environment. The extrovert will be more apt to exercise control over other people and effective communication is the way to do so. The introverted child will benefit the more from its interactions with you. You should communicate both verbally and nonverbally with the child as much as possible. Talk, touch and engage the child as much as possible. Talk to the child at every possible opportunity. Reading is beneficial also. Read to the child and teach the child to read as soon as possible. We want the child to begin the mental exercise of communicating early in life so that it will master this skill. The earlier you do this the better. The child actually learns nonverbal communication skills before it learns how to talk which is good. The child has to learn how to get its point across first by crying to get attention and then using gestures and body language. Train the child how to speak properly by using the correct pronunciation, grammar, and syntax. This can be a tremendous help to children who have speech impediments. Most times adults who grow up with speech problems seem to have issues with low self esteem. A child growing up with a speech problem will find that it is in a hostile world. Life is cruel and the taunts and pranks of other children can be merciless. The psyche can be severely damaged during this time in life. Teach your child to be a communicator rather than a manipulator. A communicator knows how to listen and knows the mind of the person that he or she is communicating with. I believe that introverts are better communicators because they are more reflexive by nature. Introverts tend to internalize the things that they see which means that they will be more apt to understand the thoughts of others and the points that others want to get across. A manipulator is an effective communicator but they are not necessarily good listeners. Manipulators like to exercise power over their environment so they are not necessarily conce ed about the thoughts and feelings of others. Manipulators make good task oriented supervisors because they know how to wield their power and don’t mind doing so. I believe that communicators make better managers because they understand how to use people and how to apply people to situations. They will know the best tools to use in a situation because they recognize the nuances of the situation. I sincerely believe that the introvert can be developed into an excellent manager with the right training and support. Riceland Enterprises