What Are Social Skills?
Social skills incorporate the following:
- Respecting yourself and others
- Participation
- Friendship skills
- Resolving conflict
There are many contributing factors which result in a child becoming quiet and withdrawn, or disruptive and angry. For example:
- divorce, or split in the family unit
- bullying at school, or by siblings
Social cognition is a fundamental part of a child’s ability to see things from others point of view and to get along with them, and the basis of this ability lies in the development of the theory of mind. It is the most important progression in early childhood social cognition, developing during the first five years of life. Consequences of its development is crucial for children’s lives at home and school.
The theory of mind develops without specific teaching and is more like language in that sense. There are however, environmental factors that influence development, and can be enhanced by opportunities such as:
- engaging in pretend play;
- parents, and caregivers talking about people’s thoughts, wants, and feelings, and
- explanations of why they act the way they do