Have a good friend it is a matter of importance in any age. But for school-age children it becomes necessary to make a friendship with other people. The main reason why children need to have a friend in a school-age is the felling of belongingness which good friendship can provide them with. Moreover, friendship is the key for children to evolve major life skills like sorting out conflicts and problems, and it helps to prevent social difficulties in future as well.
Here are a few things you need to know about the friendship at the young age.
Family is still in the first place
Does not matter how many friends has young child, family still has an enormous influence on his development. Good family’s relationships give children support and teach how to manage other relationships.
It is always good to know children’s friends
Get along with child’s friends help to find out who are those important people in child’s life, what their personalities are, how they can impact on child’s behavior, with who child can make a playdates and birthday parties.
Supporting children to have a playdate it is important
It is a good idea to make sleepovers and playdates to create a special bond between children.
Parents can help to prepare suitable environment for this event: make some snacks, drinks, plan some activities, arrange specials zones around house where children can play. For the first time it is better to make it short – 1 or 2 hours.
How parents can help a child to make friends
If children have some issues with making friends, parents or teachers can give a hand to them.
First, they may encourage child to introduce herself when meeting new friends – ‘Hello, I’m Aliya. What’s your name?’ Second, make sure child knows rules of the games his friends play. Or how to invite other children to the new game. Furthermore, if the school child attending has a buddy system, let child know that it is always an option to ask older student for some help. Moreover, if child needs extra support their parents can help other parents and children with ideas how to include him/her to the game.
In conclusion, it is safe to say that having friends is very important for school-age children. But creating a loving, caring and respectful relationship with children is one of the valuable thing which parents can do for their children’s development. This caring environment sets the stage for future relationships, including friendships, and parent’s support and help is the key to success in the fact that the child will find reliable and good friends.
Sources:
Friends & friendships: school-age children | Raising Children Network
The Importance of Friendship for School-Age Children – Repton Al Barsha