7 Essential Soft Skills to develop early on

What are soft skills?

Soft skills, or people skills refer to a set of character traits and interpersonal skills that influence how well a person can deal and interact with others. The term soft skills covers a wide range of skills as diverse as teamwork, time management, empathy and communication. There are 7 essential skills to develop early on – communication, creativity, time management, teamwork, leadership, positive outlook and discipline.

Why is it essential to develop these skills?

The importance of these soft skills is often underestimated, and there is far less emphasis on them than hard skills such as coding or math. Everyone seems to expect people know how to behave in a professional setting and the importance of skills such as taking initiative, communicating effectively and listening, which often is not the case. Moreover, in the year 2024 for kids, it’s very important to learn soft skills to be able to sustain themselves in this competitive era of 21st century where hard skills keep on changing subject and matter every 3 months.

Teaching young children how to share, deal with their feelings and communicate are building blocks to building strong relationships and working well with others. As kids become older, developing these skills further can help them cope with stress and failure, handle pressure, and be resilient while facing setbacks. As they enter teenage, adapting these soft skills further can help older children be leader like, enable them to boundaries, and remain independent.

If you introduce soft skills to your kids right from the early stages, they will become young decision makers who stand out in the crowd. If you are clueless about the soft skills that you must instil in your kids early on in life, then we have got your back. This blog enlists the 7 essential soft skills for kids that you must know about. Read on to know more about the same.

1. Communication

Communication is more than reading, writing, listening and speaking well. It’s also the ability to talk without words, be brief and respectful, and making a difference. Communicating well includes both speaking clearly and effectively, as well as listening to others properly, a soft skill known as active listening. Kids learn by practising, so teach them to be effective communicators by conducting speaking and listening activities at home to help them develop good communication skills. Encourage them to speak up for themselves and chat with people they don’t know. Also motivate to participate in public speaking as well as other stage performing activities.

2. Creativity

Creative thinking includes bringing new ideas and solutions to problems and thinking out of the box. Encourage your child to think and execute his or her thoughts Sometimes, the best way to develop new ideas is to take risks. Encourage kids to try new things and not be afraid to fail. Remember your creative kid today could be an Innovator of tomorrow.

3. Time Management

Time is the only commodity which cannot be earned back once lost. It is one of the most important currencies which must be invested judiciously. Time management for kids is an important soft skill for all areas of life. Help your child in prioritising tasks and focus on the important ones first. Then show them how to create a time table. This will help them to stay on track and to avoid procrastination.

4. Teamwork

It’s obvious that your kids will work with other people one day but getting kids to be cooperative can be difficult. Here are some simple ways to teach them how to be a team-player:

Praising your kids when they’re playing with others
Teaching them how to share and care, and
Making them realise the power of collective effort

Singing with your kids can be a fun and engaging activity to encourage teamwork just as much as them being part of a sporting team.

5. Leadership

Leadership is a combination of soft skills. It shows the ability to manage diverse people and situations. Making kids class monitors or house captain is an awesome way for building your kids’ leadership, communication and trust skills. Let your kids take turns at being the leader. And let them learn how to influence their peers using persuasion and command. It is very important that they develop both responsibility and accountability while being in leadership positions and respect everyone’s opinions too!

6. Positive Outlook

A positive outlook is a wonderful quality– it determines how others perceive you, and how you perceive yourself and the world. It is always told to – “Be positive “ in one’s life by the elders.

When it comes to the school, a positive child is always liked more over the opposite.

Strive to be a motivating parent and teach your kids how to focus on the positives in any situation. Congratulating your kids on their successes or attempts at school and praising them often will help improve their self-confidence.

7. Discipline

From choosing to eat something healthy, to using less smartphones, to waking up on time every day; self-discipline is the key to becoming a responsible human. There comes a time when parents find it difficult with how best encourage their child to inculcate discipline in their life. Thankfully, there are effective ways like building a habit- tracker and setting up reward mechanisms whose approach can help parents build positive relationships with their children and teach skills like responsibility, cooperation and self-discipline.

As mentioned in the beginning, Soft Skills are the skills that a child only learns outside the classroom. Parents need to provide children with opportunities inside and outside home to learn and practise soft skills. However, the easiest and best way to teach children soft skills is to show it to them and practise with them. When your child sees you using these skills—they will not only learn to value soft skills but also their application in real life

There is an important link between soft skills and success. If parents are to play their part in strengthening that link, they must focus on helping their children develop soft skills that contribute to their professional and personal success. Always remember , Soft skills are called “key skills” because they are your child’s key to success!

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Article Author

Neeti Sharma

Neeti Sharma is seasoned education professional working in the industry for a total of 5 years bth as a faculty as well as an advisor. In her free time she loves to explore her way with words in the form of LinkedIn posts and long form blogs which she likes to write. She specialises in areas like Child development, education, marketing and consulting.

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