It’s back to school time and your child will likely meet some new classmates as school begins! Making friends comes naturally to many children. Children with social language disorders often need some support to make and maintain friendships. These tips can help your child interact more successfully with classmates to start building friendships!
- Greeting Classmates: Some kids need support to learn when it’s appropriate to greet peers, and how to do so. Before school starts, remind your child to say hello to kids he/she knows from last year and respond when a classmate says hi. Help your child practice using friendly body language including facing a peer, making eye contact, and smiling!
- Asking Questions: Before school starts, help your child practice asking questions…and remembering the answers. When your child asks questions, classmates know he/she is interested and thinking about them. Learning about and remembering a classmate’s interests is the first step toward friendship! After summer break is the perfect opportunity to ask questions, since summer is a busy time for most families. Some great questions to practice include:
- How was your summer?
- Did you go on any vacations this summer?
- What was your favorite thing you did this summer?
- Answering Questions: Practice answering classmates’ questions as well! If your child typically answers with one word, “good” or “fine”, new peers won’t necessarily be engaged in learning more. Ask your child common questions about summer (like above), and prompt him/her to respond with one or two details. For example, if asked, “How was your summer?”, model for your child to respond with, “It was really fun! I took swimming lessons and learned to dive.”
By: Megan Daly, M.S., CCC-SLP