How to Have Real Conversations with Your Kids
As we grow older, we learn to enhance our communication skills and become adept at having effective conversations with the people around us. However, during this process, most of us tend to forget about how to have proper conversations with children, and we gradually lose the ability to cope with the differences in mental levels.
Children are just as attentive as adults, but they have a different way of responding to conversations – therefore, you need to tailor the conversation and your style of talking to suit them. When talking to your child, you have to maintain a soft and gentle tone, and take certain factors into account so that the child can comprehend your meaning. In addition to speaking yourself, you should also encourage your child to be open and expressive – by allowing him/her to be himself/herself, you will facilitate your child’s personality development to a great extent.
Instructions
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1
A comfortable environment
A comfortable environment is essential if you wish to have a real conversation with your child. Make your kid feel easy and comfortable, and in this way you will encourage him/her to be more expressive. If you make a child sit on a chair that is directly opposite to yours, you will make him/her feel as if s/he is being interrogated. A child must not get the feeling that the conversation is the only goal of the interaction - instead, you need to ease him/her into it. In order to provide your child a comfortable environment, you may take him/her out for a walk, or even sit on a bench in a park or garden. -
2
Call your child by his name
In order to boost your child’s self-confidence, you must call him/her by his/her name. This way, you will also be able to capture your child’s attention more effectively. Continue referring to your child by his/her name throughout the conversation. -
3
Be truthful
Many people commit a blunder when they act too idealistic or unrealistic while talking to their kids. By adopting this sort of an approach, they distance their children from the practicalities of life, thus hampering their mental growth. In order to avoid this, you must remain truthful at all costs when talking to your kids, even if the truth is a little bitter. -
4
Mind the tone of the conversation
When speaking to your child, your tone must not be harsh or threatening. Adopt a soft and gentle tone when talking to your kids, because this will have greater communication value. No matter what the situation is, you must not shout at your kid. -
5
Listen to the child
For an adult, it is quite natural to dominate during a conversation with a child; however, this is not acceptable behaviour, whether it is done consciously or unconsciously. In order to have an effective and fruitful conversation with your child, you must listen to his/her arguments and opinions patiently, giving him or her the impression that you give importance to his/her views.
