Developing Social Competence In The Early Years

Picture caption: Let’s put our ideas together! Picture caption: Learning how to eat banana leaf rice in the Indian culture

9 September 2008 What does it mean to be socially competent and why is this ability so important to your child? Social competence refers to the social, emotional, and mental skills as well as behaviors that children need for successful social adaptation. A child who is socially competent is able to establish and maintain high quality and mutually satisfying relationships with people around them. This enables them to have effective and fulfilling interpersonal relations in adult life, including relations with family members, co-workers and with romantic partners. Children who have a wide repertoire of social skills and who are socially aware and perceptive are likely to be socially competent. Acquisition of social skills is not an overnight affair. Rather, it takes years to acquire the many intricate sub-skills through exposure to many different social settings and situations, and practice of the skills. A child's social competence depends upon a number of factors including the child's social skills, social awareness, and self-confidence. Social skills is a term used to describe the child's knowledge of and ability to use a variety of social behaviors that are appropriate to a given interpersonal situation and that are pleasing to others in each situation. The capacity to inhibit egocentric, impulsive, or negative social behavior is also a reflection of a child's social skills. During the preschool years, social competence involves the ability to separate from parents and engage with peers in shared play activities, particularly role  play. During such activities, they learn to respect each other, they learn to be considerate and take turns in doing things. During peer interactions, young children learn to take another person's perspective, and develop an understanding of the social rules and conventions of their culture. They learn to give-and-take, cooperate and negotiate with others.

Younger children can learn from older ones. When the older children give guidance to younger ones during lessons, they reinforce what they have learnt earlier. This type of interaction is essential for growth and uses different types of communicative skills such as giving instructions and accepting instructions apart from developing respect for elders and for each other.

Children at St Nicholas Montessori Centres are given many opportunities to interact and express themselves as the classes are kept very small. Small classes mean more attention for each child and a more comfortable environment for them to speak up.

Children at SNMC also develop social skills learn through project work based on specific themes such as Merdeka Celebrations recently carried out by SNMC USJ13.  In the one-month project, the children explored the cultures of different ethnic groups in Malaysia by learning about the type of food eaten, customs and traditional attire.

They also learned about famous landmarks of the country and expressing their understanding about their country they live in by creating artwork. All the activities were carried out individually or in small groups, culminating in a Merdeka Party. Hence, children learn more about other cultures and develop respect for others through enhanced appreciation.

The Montessori approach allows children to work at their own pace and in groups, developing mastery over their environment. Central to the method is the philosophy that the varying stimuli appropriate for each child’s interest and needs are catered for.
The day’s activities include: practical life experiences, language, science, mathematics, geography, dance, music, art and free play. As a facilitator for these activities, the members of staff create a happy and calm atmosphere for the children to grow and develop.
To find out more about our programme and how to enroll your child for a Montessori experience, visit the St Nicholas Montessori Centres on an Open Day from 10a.m. to 4p.m. on 27 September.

You may contact the SNMC centres at USJ13 (03-56369566), USJ19 (03-80241626), Bandar Utama (03-77252702), Klang (03-33727549), Malacca (06-2816102), Penang (04-6580133), or email to mtchiew@segi.edu.my