I’m an avid reader and researcher. I’m also a homeschooling Mom. So when it comes to finding books that assist me in teaching my young children, I am extremely diligent in the due process of research. A concern on some homeschooling parents, especially those new at the task, is making sure their child learns fundamental social skills. Really, any parent will benefit from guaranteeing their child learns the social skills needed to function successfully in life.
My review for Book of the Month, September 2015 is more than just an educational book. It is a workbook and an excellent one at that. I LOVE this book!
Social Skills Matter! by Christine Schwab, Kasandra S. Flora
Christine Schwab, Kasandra S. Flora
Key Education
Greensboro, North Carolina: Carson-Dellosa Publishing, LLC, 2014
384 pp. $27.99 ($22.88 on Amazon)
978-1-4838-0026-8
Social awareness is a deceptively easy skill to teach. Children do not learn proper behavior by osmosis. And while proper social skills must be modeled, that alone may not be sufficient to teach the fundamentals.
How do you teach a child to have an enjoyable conversation, to respect personal space, to blow their nose (yes, that’s a lesson in the book 🙂 ) in a fun, motivating way without hounding them? Wouldn’t it be helpful to have a resource tool that assists you in teaching these and a multitude of other skills?
This book presents many social situations in a concise, kid-friendly way, first teaching the skill then encouraging implementation whether the skill is cooperative play, expressing feelings, effective communication, or manners.
A child’s ability to make good choices and display behavior suitable to the situation can be a deciding factor in determining a child’s future achievements, social acceptance, even everyday happiness. Let’s not wait till they are struggling with these skills to use a helpful tool such as this book to teach them. This book is aimed at Preschoolers to Second Graders.
The authors state in the introduction ~
The book is sectioned into seven chapters with 12 mini-books presented in each chapter for a total of 84 mini-books. The mini-books are meant to be cut and assembled, the illustrations colored, the stories read, the skills exercised with a goal chart of 10 times, and the book personalized for the child.
The seven chapters focus on an individual skill developed as a theme:
- Communication
- Cooperative Play
- Learning about Feelings
- Keeping Calm
- Manners
- My Day at School
- School Routines
The clear, interactive steps outlined in each mini-book are a valuable asset in molding our children’s behavior.
I’ve found that I can enhance the learning process by role-playing the skills highlighted in each mini-book then offering a reward at the completion. Additionally, there is a free app the book discloses that makes the book even more interactive. This is a wonderful asset for parent and teacher alike!
P.S. Have you found a successful resource to teach social skills?
