Parents can help a child who struggles to make friends by practising greetings at home, arranging playdates, enrolling them in extra-mural activities that match their interests and teaching respect for personal boundaries. Model friendly behaviour, share your own childhood friendship stories and avoid comparing your child’s social needs to yours or their siblings’, as one close friend can be enough.
Cyberbullying is the use of digital technology to harass, threaten or humiliate a child, and it can follow children everywhere, all day. Warning signs include distress after using devices, withdrawal and changes in mood, sleep or schoolwork. If it happens, support your child without judgement, keep screenshots as evidence, inform the school and consider therapy.
Parents can help a child discover their passions by observing them at play, asking what they love and why, and exposing them to books, museums, sports, arts and other experiences. Encourage related clubs or lessons without pushing interests they have dropped, connect them with people in those fields and model a positive attitude towards work.
Showing interest in a child’s education builds a positive attitude towards school and healthy self-esteem. Ask specific questions about their day, help with homework, avoid criticising teachers in front of them and talk about school safety, including bullying. Stay involved without overdoing it, by respecting older children’s independence and not doing their schoolwork for them.
Children learn in different ways, and the four basic learning styles are visual, auditory, reading and writing, and kinaesthetic. Parents can identify their child’s learning style by observing how the child reads, expresses themselves and solves problems, then adapt study methods to suit, such as diagrams for visual learners or hands-on activities with breaks for kinaesthetic learners.
