Proactive Socialization
The back-to-school season is just around the corner once again, so right now is the perfect time to help our kids use their confidence to make new friends. Introducing yourself and meeting new people can be a tough task for children, but that’s what proactive socialization is all about! Being the first one to go up to others and start conversations, ask questions, and find similarities in order to build new relationships is a key skill for young ones. Developing the initiative to be friendly when meeting others is a small habit that adds up to a lot of future success! In this blog, we will discuss 3 key reasons why proactive socialization is an important skill for children to work on, so keep reading to find out.
Introduce Yourself
At first glance, this one seems pretty simple and self-explanatory, but it’s still a crucial part of starting new relationships. When you introduce yourself, you get a chance to make your first impression, which is an important art to master. You see, your first impression can determine whether you make a lifelong friendship or not, and you only get one chance! Don’t fear, because all you have to do is let others know a little bit about yourself in a fun and exciting way. Make sure to let people know your name, and then share some things that you are interested in. Whether it’s your hobbies, passions, or even just TV shows or movies that you like, this is a great way to tell potential friends all about who you are!
Be Confident
The second step to being an effective proactive socializer is to be confident. Keep the three rules of confidence in mind; eye contact, voice projection, and body posture. These three guidelines help you build self-esteem, and allow you to make a great first impression. Confidence is very important when making new friends, because it helps attract people to want to be your friend. Remember to look your new friends in the eyes, speak clearly, and carry yourself with good posture in order to add to your confidence. Additionally, confidence is a skill, which means it’s something to keep practicing to constantly keep getting better!
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Be Outgoing
Finally, the last key point to becoming a proactive socializer is to be outgoing. That word itself should be pretty self explanatory; it’s all about putting yourself out into the world and meeting new people. That means having the drive to walk up to others and initiate conversations. It means not waiting for others to come to you, and instead being the first to find others. Outgoing people are far more likely to make new friends, and build strong, long-lasting relationships. This is because they are unafraid to put themselves in new situations, which is just another benefit of practicing proactive socialization!
In Our Classes…
Our classes provide a one-of-a-kind opportunity to practice proactive socialization before the new school year begins. Students are often tasked with finding a partner in class, and more often than not they will have to pair up with someone they might not know yet. That creates a great chance to practice introducing yourself to others, while being confident and outgoing. For our younger students, we often ask them to share their favorite colors or animals along with their names, to learn more about their new friend. For our older students, we encourage them to share interests or hobbies in order to find something in common. Furthermore, for all students, we encourage them to do all this in a matter of just a few seconds! So across the board, our students are getting great practice with making new friends through proactive socialization!
In Conclusion
To wrap things up, proactive socialization is all about being on top of meeting new people and building relationships. By practicing your introduction and first impression, and sprinkling in confidence and an outgoing nature, our kids can become masters at creating life-long friendships! Parents and educators, let’s help our students learn how to build the bridges of strong relationships with one another this upcoming school year. Practicing this essential skill will create bright, social butterflies for our future generations.