Inculcating soft skills in children
Soft Skills attributes to a well ettiquetted personality.They play a vital role in moulding a child’s character.The most seeked Soft Skills are team working ,collaboration ,turn taking ,problem solving ,decision making and critical thinking. In short, they are the good manners and personality traits needed to get along with others and build positive relationshipsThis article gives an insight in imbibing these skills in our children.
Childhood is a period of massive development where the brain goes through a lot of transition.This affects the way the child's behaviour and the way they interact with thers.Real events help the kids to share their emotions in the peer group.Precious moments of childhood are when your child makes ladoos and castles with sand.The child gets amazed and runs behind a butterfly ;moments worth capturing . Emotional and Social development There is no other important and amazing responsibility than to help your child grow emotionally and socially
.Emotional and social development provides the foundation for how we feel about ourselves and how we experience others.Group learning plays an important role here.The child initiates learning new experiences.This method is called Cooperative Learning where the child wants to explore and try new things, learns to co-operate in the peer group, participates and shows interest in creative activities, follows instructions and uses self control, shows concern for others. Schools are a place where soft skills are executed and improved continuously, activities after school play a vital role in refining the soft skills but parents and families are where soft skills are observed and learnt . There are many ways in which we can inculcate soft skills in our children. Imbibing at an early age Assign an activity to your child at home ,for example cleaning of a fish tank or playing Ludo at home - allow him to lead the activity, show confidence and trust in his capability , praise and acknowledge the effort of your child.This will definitely foster integrity, communication, courtesy ,problem solving ,responsibility ,flexibility and teamwork in your child.It will also develop leadership qualities and self management. Children are soft clay and they imbibe all that they learn at a very tender age.
Measure your words before kids ,they learn and imitate the same in school and even at home.Given the challenges our children face as they leave the classroom and enter the professional space, skills like networking, reasoning and conflict management are critical to help them navigate professional challenges and apply the lessons we teach effectively. Hybrid teaching hurdles The new age epidemic, COVID-19, has not only significantly affected on health and family life, but has forced the schools to adapt to new ways of imparting knowledge and soft skills as the entire nation went online during this time.Teachers in the education system are not exempt from this, they are encouraged by the new situation and forced to research and adopt new online tools and techniques in the process of knowledge transferring according to the students of various categories.The transition to distance learning was inevitable, and teachers made many efforts to develop innovative solutions for online teaching that they had not known or practiced enough until now.
Imparting Soft skills via online mode is not a herculean task but differs on how we execute them .For example :- Teaching soft skills in-person We teach our students to raise their hands without interrupting, maintain eye contact as they politely ask questions (of you and of their peers), submit their notebooks on time and with proper spelling and punctuation, etc.
We teach them not to rock the chair .Thats being disrespectful. We emphasize on the use of Please May I in person . We accompany a lonely child to mingle with friends . Teaching soft skills online Emphasize the importance of “virtual discipline” by maintaining the same expectations as in person , reminding them not to show up on their webcams in pajamas, actively listen (and reflect that action in their body language), etc. Stress the same even in virtual class along with the use of magic words ( thank you ,sorry ,please,excuse me ) taught in class one as part of grooming the personality and character traits .We need to prioritize informal and speaking opportunities for the kids.Regular informal oral speaking opportunities are also valuable.These skills are present around them all the time – when students ask the teacher for help or when they ask a peer for help.By making sure the students are interacting with each other and while maintaining good eye contact, using a friendly tone, speaking confidently, etc., we can help them hone their communication skills. Inculcating soft skills in the children will offer tremendous opportunities for our children to learn and grow .Let us create an atmosphere for their holistic development ,at school ,at home and everywhere .It is a journey of accompaniment .
