No matter your child’s future career aspirations, strong social skills will be an invaluable asset to his employability. He will be more easily hired and far better prepared to work cohesively with a team if he is acquainted with how to properly interact with and respect others.

Believe it or not, early childhood is the time a person begins to absorb conversational etiquette. The manners you model will be the manners your child acquires.

Your child will learn how to treat others by listening to family members’ speech. Each “please,” “thank you,” “excuse me,” “after you,” “I’m sorry,” and considerate word becomes an important addition to his value system and vocabulary. You have the ability to model respect for people, authority, and boundaries.

Examples of Modeling Good Social Skills

  • “I feel very frustrated. I am going to my room for a few minutes to calm down.”
  • “A little girl is waving her arm to us to say hi. Hi!”
  • “She is taking our food order. I will have a turkey sandwich, please.”
  • “I can tell you had fun with your babysitter. Let’s tell her thank you. Thank you, Hazel!”
  • “Oh! I didn’t mean to bump into you. Excuse me.”
  • “Honey, that’s your sister’s favorite stuffed animal, and she asked you not to play with it while she is at school. Let’s put it on the shelf for her.”
  • “I dropped my wallet, and this gentleman picked it up for me. Thank you, sir.”
  • “Son, thank you for playing quietly for a few minutes while I write this letter.”
  • “Can you please help me stir the chocolate milk? Thank you!”
  • “I’m sorry I raised my voice. Next time I’m upset I will speak kindly. Will you forgive me?”
  • “Let’s play together. Your turn to clap-clap-clap. My turn to clap-clap-clap. We are taking turns.”