Communicating with Children

Improve your communication as a parent with Smarter Parenting. Explore and share our communicating with children resources below. Effective Communication with a child as a Parent

If you struggle with communication as a parent, you have come to the right place. At Smarter Parenting, we recognize that many parents struggle with communicating with children. Because of this, we provide helpful online resources that allow for more effective communication between you and your children.

We believe that effective communication doesn’t just come from talking. Our decades of experience have helped us develop a six-step process for effective communication with your children that explores the full range of how to communicate.

When looking to implement effective communication with a child, begin by looking at your child and listen intently to what they say. Once your child finishes speaking, describe what you understood using their own words as much as possible. Be sure to ask your child if you accurately described what they said so that they can correct you if necessary.

Then, calmly share your thoughts and ask your child to repeat what they heard. Confirm or correct their statements and begin the process of Decision Making.

Improve your communication as a parent with Smarter Parenting. Explore and share our resources below.

Where to begin

The skill of Effective Communication can be fun to learn. Here is a list of things to do when learning/teaching this skill.

1. Watch the lesson first and memorize the steps to the skill.
2. Print out the steps to Effective Communication and put it somewhere you will see for easy reference.
3. Visit the Activities and Games section and decide on a game that you think will engage your child.
4. At a neutral time, use the steps of Effective Communication to talk to your child about learning the skill. Decide if engaging them with an activity first or showing them the lesson would be best and begin there.
5. Practice the skill as often as possible. Use multiple games and activities if needed to reinforce the skill.
6. Continue to practice until the child has it down. It may be helpful to break the skill up into small sections if your child is having trouble learning all the steps.

Suggestions for parents when teaching this skill

• Remain calm.
• Expect that your child will struggle to remember the steps. That is why it is essential to print out the steps and place them in a visible place.
• Practice with the printout of the steps. As your child gets more comfortable, remove the printout until they can follow the steps by memory.
• Make the communication with children practice fun and practice as much as possible.
• Be aware of your child’s limits. If you need to break up the learning of the steps to the skill, that is alright. Help them learn and master what they can and move to another step as needed. You know what is best for your child.

Download the steps to Effective Communication and place it where it can be easily seen.