Building a solid foundation of social skills for your children from a young age can help them make friends more easily and assist them in becoming independent as they get older. There are several activities that you can have your child engage in that will help them develop strong social skills.
Board Games
Board games are not only fun, they are also educational and teach critical thinking skills and social skills. Games like chess really challenge the brain and allow children to master skills like strategizing and thinking independently, both of which can help them socially as they age.
To improve your child’s chess game, enroll them in online chess lessons. An online instructor can provide them with the one-on-one attention necessary to elevate their game without the need to add another outside class to your child’s already-busy schedule.
Reading
A child that reads can open up an entire world inside their brain. Reading not only enhances speaking skills and expands a child’s knowledge, but focused topics like making friends, preventing bullying, and handling life transitions can greatly assist them in expanding their social skills.
Going to the library with your child is an excellent way to bond with them. They can also meet new friends at programs through the library which cater to specific ages. They’ll expand their social circle while also expanding their minds.
Treasure Hunting
Searching for something, either as an individual or as a team, is a great way to develop a child’s social skills. Scavenger hunts, geocaching, and Pokémon Go are all terrific ways for children to get outdoors and interacting with their peers.
The competitive vibe of treasure hunting pushes a child to think outside-of-the-box. Keeping things fun and interactive by providing treasures that appeal to your child will keep them engaged and looking forward to treasure hunting again in the future.
Thinking Games
There are games that don’t require anything but a mind and conversation. Games like “Never Have I Ever” or “Would You Rather?” will have your child picking their brains to come up with the best possible answer. This teaches them important decision-making skills that will be crucial as they grow up and enter into adulthood.
The most important thing you can do for your child is to provide plenty of opportunities to engage in fun activities with their peers. The more they are exposed to, the more social skills they will develop.
There are 28 letter in the Arabic Alphabet. I like to learn them in four rows of seven letters. Starting on the right. Arabic writing begins on the right so it is a good idea to think this way for the letters. (I count on my fingers to seven then start again with each line so that if I miss a letter I can start the line again.)
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
خ
khaa
ح
Haa
ج
jim
ث
thaa
ت
taa
ب
baa
أ
alif
——–
ص
Saad
——–
ش
shiin
——–
س
siin
——–
ز
zha
——–
ر
raa
——–
ذ
dhal
——–
د
daal
——–
ق
qaaf
——–
ف
faa
——–
غ
ghayn
——–
ع
ayn
——–
ظ
Dhaa
——–
ط
Taa
——–
ض
Daad
——–
ي
yaa
——–
——–
و
waaw
——–
——–
ه
haa
——–
——–
ن
noon
——–
——–
م
miim
——–
——–
ل
laam
——–
——–
ك
kaaf
——–
An Arabic Alphabet and various Arabic Numbers bookmarks can be found here :
Learning the letter names is easier if you learn them in order. The same shaped letters are all together so it is easier to learn know the difference if they are close together.
Movement and actions make it easier for small children to engage with their alphabet. So turn on your alphabet youtube alphabet clip of choice get up and move to the music
Count the letters on seven fingers before moving on to count another seven for lines 2, 3, and 4. Learning a song pattern for the letters makes it much easier to remember their names.
When you are not in the process of directly teaching an alphabet having access to the letters and having them available to interact with helps facilitate the learning process. In addition, if like me you have dyslexic learners in the house it means that they are less likely to forget the letters you have spent all day laboriously working upon.
You can buy an Arabic Alphabet ready made from your Arabic book store or download one from the internet.
(Three in one colour and one in a different colour.)
One to put up on the wall
One to use as a find the letter chart
Two to cut up as two packs of cards (Tip: use two different colours. If you lose a card it is much easier to find which card you are looking for)
Card game ideas:
1. Play Match the Letters.
Turn all the cards over and find the two different coloured cards that have the same letter.
2. Snap (two packs of cards in two colours):
deal all the cards out equally to each person and then turn them over so no one can see their cards
the first person turns a card up in the middle and names their letter and the picture on the card, and then
the next person turns a card up and places it on top of the last card and reads the letter and the picture name, and
the next person turns their card onto the top of that card and repeats the process
when two cards in a row match you place your palm as fast as you can on the pile and call “snap”.
The person who says “snap” then need to name the letter and the word on the card and they can take the pile of cards.
The winner is the person who has all the cards when the game ends.
3. Go fishing for a letter (use two packs of cards in two colours)
Deal 5 cards to each player
Put the rest of the cards down in the middle to use for the “Letter Fishing” pile
The person to the right of the dealer starts.
They ask the person to their right if they have a particular card and name the letter and its picture.
If the person does: they give them the card and it is considered a match so they have another turn.
If the person has not got another card then they say “Go Letter Fishing” and the person collects a card from the centre pile.
Then it is the next person’s turn.
The person that ends up with the most number of letters matched is considered the winner.
Bonus Fish Simple Letter Matching Game:
I am told by my six year old and his three year old side-kick that we cannot learn an Arabic Alphabet without fish…. Anything for peace and quiet, whilst they are teaching themselves!
We printed 3 copies:
One to put fins and eyes on as they found the right letter.
Two to laminate. (one we cut the fish out to play matching the fish)
Usually accompanied by Adam wa Mishmish – Under the Sea song from YouTube. You can find it here: https://youtu.be/CZBz7gkxrCw
Books:
I think you might like this book – “My First Words In Arabic : كلماتي الأولى بالعربية – Arabic/English Bilingual: (Arabic books for kids)” by Bachar Karroum, Jesus Vazquez Prada.
think you might like this book – “Alif to Yaa ألف إلى ياء Arabic/English Children’s Picture Book, Dual/bilingual Language (Yellow Series Book 1)” by Umm Sumayyah Quan. Start reading it for free: http://amzn.asia/fAwyeB7
I didn’t know how to manage money. We didn’t have allowances when I was a kid and any money we got as gift ended up with mom for “safe keeping”. While that makes total sense, with no concept of what healthy money management looks like, I had to struggle for a while before finding my personal methodology as far as handling this very important aspect of life meant. Which is why teaching kids about finance early is so very important.
My kids don’t get allowances either (I prefer they care for their home because it is their home) but recently now that my son is 8, he is allowed to earn by doing jobs we don’t feel like doing or need an extra hand with. Say, weeding or sorting and folding loads of laundry or helping re organize the kitchen.
And we don’t give him the money. He’s got a book where he notes down how much money he earned. He adds his earnings and subtracts (consequences or expenditures as need be). Yes, it had gotten him a little too involved into what he will buy next but we are working on the balance between saving and buying. That too will take time.
Teaching Kids about Finance is Not Just About Money
I have never shied away from talking about the cost of an item or class with the kids. Talking to them about something being too expensive, and why has been very important to be for those are the conversations that led me to at least not over spending at every turn. It helped me understand early that some things are just not worth spending the money on, while others even though extravagant expenditures are totally worth the financial commitment.
These conversations go towards showing that as a family you can talk about almost anything.
2. Get Excited about Deals/Savings
I love a deal / discount. I even have friends who are never shy of talking to me about how to where they get things cheaper and worth the amount. Getting something priced just right is wonderful. In India, where often people say they bought something for $500 when they actually paid $50, it is refreshing to be able to just enjoy deal shopping and doing it with my children. Money saving can be fun too. They see how important it is to not just buy something and ensure that you have gotten the good price on an item. To check around and do the work that is needed.
Seeing your parents be mindful about their expenditures is a wonderful way for children to learn to do the same. It extends into being mindful about most actions also.
3. Money Saved is Money Earned
We do our own yard work. We clean the house ourselves. We drive instead of flying when we can. My husband and I are a team when it comes to saving by doing something ourselves instead of paying something to do it for us. And we explain to our kids the importance of doing that. And how the money we have not spent is money we can put towards something else.
And not just for saving, there is love we put into our gardens, home, work and our trips. The value of self work extends into self worth and valuing the work you put into doing something vs just paying someone to do it for you. (When we do avail of help, we ensure our children understand how that money is better spent on outsourcing so we can do other things like maybe getting help to clean the house for a party so I can cook etc) .
4. Brainstorm Ideas to Save Money
Kids love this one. Out of the box thinking is encouraged where we ask the little ones to give us ideas on how to save on something. Like when my son was supposed to have his birthday party. He wanted to have a Nerf party at a location but of course that was a lot of money for just 8 kids and he wanted to invite around 20 friends. So, we thought about ways we could have a Nerf party at home. The conversations we had were intense as he thought about different party ideas. We ended up having a super fun Lego party instead with all his friends.
It takes a lot for one to find ways to do the same thing others can afford to spend money on, in cheaper but creative ways. Neither is right or wrong, just different but can be just as fulfilling and that is wonderful to ingrain into children early.
5. Be Positive About Work at Hand
The above can be hard. Making home made creations for occasions or working at home or finding that perfectly priced thing you really want can all take time and patience. Both of which are extremely essential to building a positive attitude within kids. To be optimistic plays a big part in this. Teaching kids about finance takes perseverance at both ends.
6. Donations/Tips are Essential to Soceity
So important to share with children early the importance of donating and tips for service rendered well. This surely instills the importance of giving for charity or when someone has worked hard for you.
7. Perseverance Pays Off
This is such a wonderful lesson that gets imbibed when you work towards saving. And this trait goes into a life long journey of being patient and slowly but surely going towards a goal.
8. Money Needs to Be Earned with a Purpose
Investment is such an important part of money management. And this is why when we started giving my son jobs, we asked him what he was going to save towards. His end goal is a Lego set that is quite expensive and he’s so joyful in adding to his final total every time he gets the opportunity. Travel, high end gadgets etc, all should be saved up for. This is a such a simple way to o the same.
9. Not Every Job Has Equal Pay
The first day I told my son I would pay him $2 for a small section of the yard, he pulled ONE weed and said, “I’m done.” . We continued our conversations about how you have to finish a job your started before expecting a return. Children get paid way too much without thought. I mean, when I hear kids getting $20 from the tooth fairy for losing a tooth, it seems way too extravagant.
Even when our son helps us, we do pay his anywhere from $1 – $5. As they get older, I imagine we would increase it to $10-$15 again depending on the job.
This is so important to teach children that not every opportunity pays equally but it all adds up and is of value.
10. Helping is Different than Earning
All the above being said, it is very easy for kids to fall into the trap of doing everything with the expectation of getting money in return. It’s like candy to them. For they learn quite quickly that it will add up. This is why it is important to have simple things they do around the house like emptying the dishwasher or help clean up before a party so they know the difference between helping someone and working for money.
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