Open Discussion Forum

When we take a good look at social skills they are complex. Just learning to be polite isn't enough for successful living. Children are ready to learn social skills by the age of three if they have accomplished the regulation of their emotion and impulsivity. We have been working at training them in social skills, but we may need to rethink our approach. Social skills are more about attitude than a specific skill. An ability to be polite may be too ridged to deal with complex issues like fairness and sharing. In addition, children normally can't clearly describe issues like fairness and sharing until they are at least four, and more often five. I'm suggesting that we consider the teaching of social skills as the developing of children's thinking about what works well over time: paying attention to consequences.