Strong communication skills are an essential ingredient for success in every aspect of life, including your child’s scholastic pursuits, future career, and personal relationships. While pre-K and kindergarten do offer new environments that children become effective communicators, how you talk to your kids can have the strongest impact. Below are a few tips for helping build your child’s communication skills at home.

How to Help Your Child Expand Communication Skills

1. Talk to Them

Holding conversations with your child helps them build confidence. Be sure to ask open-ended questions like, “what did you learn in pre-K today?” or “what do you like about your teacher?” Give them plenty of time to answer the questions thoroughly, and respond with follow-up questions to keep the conversation going.

2. Engage in Active Reading

Reading to your children can foster a lifelong love of books, but it also helps build their vocabulary. Instead of simply reading page-by-page, make reading an active experience by showing them the pictures, asking questions about what they see, and drawing connections between the illustrations and the text.

3. Focus on Non-Verbal Communication

Recognizing non-verbal cues seems like second-nature, so we often forget that it’s actually a learned skill. Point out gestures and expressions to your child, especially when they’re interacting with other kids, and take the time to explain what they mean. For instance, point out a classmate who is crossing their arms to show that they might feel shy, uncomfortable, or frustrated.

4. Build Their Emotional Vocabulary

Some children may act out because they don’t know how to identify what they’re feeling. Having an extensive vocabulary of emotions is crucial for expressing themselves, so talk throughout their experiences and teach them words for sad, angry, disappointed, and other feelings.

Saying something like, “you’re upset because you were really looking forward to our trip this weekend,” will help clarify their feelings and help them build tools to communicate them effectively.

As one of Rochester’s most respected, trusted pre-K programs, Imagination Childcare Academy, Inc. offers an enriching, supportive environment designed to help every child learn. Their extensive curriculum touches on a wide variety of subjects, and their highly trained teachers have the expertise to adapt lessons for each individual child. Visit their website for more on their innovative pre-K program or call (585) 413-3948 to arrange a tour of their childcare center.