Helping Kids Connect, Communicate & Belong

 

Free Weekly Social Skills Training Group — Grades 3–8

 

Knowing how to make a friend, join a conversation, read the room, handle disagreement, express a feeling, cope with being left out, listen to someone else’s point of view, or simply feel comfortable being yourself around other people — these are skills that matter.  

And increasingly, they are skills that children need opportunities to learn and practice.  Sometimes parents have the expectation that these skills are hard wired in and just "arrive" at a certain age.  That couldn't be further from the truth.  Social skills, like all other human behaviors, need to be observed, taught and practiced.

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Today’s children are growing up in a very different social world. The pandemic interrupted several important years of normal social development for many young people. Classrooms closed, activities stopped, friendships moved online, and everyday opportunities to interact face-to-face were suddenly limited.

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At the same time, technology has become an increasingly significant part of children’s social lives. Texting, gaming, social media and online communication can provide wonderful opportunities for connection — but they don’t always provide the same practice in reading facial expressions, noticing tone of voice, interpreting body language, taking conversational turns, handling awkward moments, resolving disagreements, or simply figuring out what to say next.  Children need places to practice being with other children.

​​Social Skills Are Life Skills

 

Social skills aren’t just about being outgoing or having lots of friends. In fact, a child doesn’t need to be extroverted at all to have strong social skills.

They are about developing the tools to navigate relationships and the confidence to participate in the world around us.

These skills can include:

• Starting and maintaining conversations

• Making and keeping friendships

• Listening and taking turns

• Recognizing emotions in ourselves and others

• Reading facial expressions, body language and social cues

• Developing empathy and perspective-taking

• Expressing needs and feelings appropriately

• Handling disagreement and conflict

• Coping with rejection, embarrassment and disappointment

• Respecting boundaries — our own and other people’s

• Working cooperatively with others

• Building confidence in unfamiliar social situations

• Learning how to repair a relationship when something goes wrong

And perhaps most importantly, children can discover that social interaction doesn’t have to be something they get perfectly right.  It is something we practice.

 

A Place to Practice

 

Our Weekly Social Skills Training Group provides children and young people with a supportive, encouraging and fun environment in which to develop these skills together.

Through conversation, activities, games, role-playing, problem-solving and real-life scenarios, participants will have opportunities to build confidence and experiment with new ways of communicating and connecting.

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This is not about telling children there is something “wrong” with the way they interact.

It is about recognizing that social and emotional skills develop through experience — and deliberately creating more opportunities for that experience.

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Some children may come because they are shy or socially anxious. Some may find friendships difficult to navigate. Some may struggle to read social cues or manage strong emotions. Others may simply enjoy meeting new people and becoming more confident communicators.

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​​​​​​​​​​​The group will focus on growth, connection, confidence and kindness in an environment where children can learn from both the facilitator and, just as importantly, from one another.

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Because Connection Matters

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Children are growing up in a world in which it has never been easier to communicate — and yet genuine human connection can sometimes feel surprisingly difficult.

We want to give young people another kind of space.

A place to put down the screen.

A place to look up.

A place to talk, listen, laugh, make mistakes, try again, understand someone else’s perspective and discover their own voice.  Because learning how to connect with other people isn’t simply a childhood skill.  It’s a skill for life.