“Join the group!”
For some children this is a really tough suggestion. Those kids look at group activity, maybe even one they asked to do, or sounded like a good idea a few minutes ago, and they get scared. They think
- “I won’t know what to do.”
- “It doesn’t look like fun.”
- “Those kids are not my friends.”
- “Ack!”
Encouraging kids to participate is an important job.
If it’s your job, or if you supervise someone who needs to do this, get the 5 strategies that will make you more likely to succeed, and will help the child in front of you to learn the skills they need to jump into a group.
Participating is a life skill.
Kids and teens need to know how to respect the group, the teacher and themselves. Knowing how to join in, even when they’d rather not, is going to help them succeed in life.
