How Do You Connect With Children?

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How do you connect with a child? It's not as easy as one might think. When you're a parent you want nothing more than to have open and clear communications with your child so that they trust you enough to come to you in any given situation that life hands them. It's not as easy as you think. When you're an aunt or an uncle, how are you connecting with your nieces or nephews? As a grant parent, how are you connecting with your grandchildren? This is a question you may have not given much thought to, one may just figure they are connected with their child and what is the big deal? Such is life, and no two children are the same. Children don't look the same, act the same, like the same things, learn the same,  grow the same, speak the same, or even see life the same. I was so happy when I met Sarah Rosten, the Director of Pediatric Interactions and her staff. They know how to connect with children and children respond, learn and grow through them and the service they provide. Characters of Character is proud to know them and offer our simple resources to connect with children. It takes a village were words once said, it takes a connection to know what goes on in those beautiful little heads....I can speak for myself when I say that I am a visual and hands on learner. Some learn through books and discussion, others through art, some through communications, we don't all learn the same. Pediatric Interactions knows how to connect and we were so excited to learn that they use the Characters of Character. I'd like to introduce you to them:

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As speech-language pathologists, our job is to help kids have meaningful and successful relationships with the people in their lives. We do this by teaching kids how to better understand spoken and written language; express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly; and to understand and respond to the social world around them. Characters of Character provide us with a way to teach these skills to young children in a fun and meaningful way with kid-friendly characters. We love to use books, visuals, and crafts to teach new concepts and keep kids engaged. Character of Characters has activities and resources on the website for therapists, teachers, and parents to introduce and review character traits with Manners Monkey, Behavior Bear, Do’er Duck, Friendship Frog, Healthy Hippo, Respectful Rabbit, Responsible Rabbit, Self-Esteem Elephant, and Warm-Hearted Walrus. Characters of Character promotes strong values that young children can learn and carry throughout their lives. By learning and demonstrating the values of behavior, friendship, perseverance, friendship, healthy habits, manners, respect, responsibility, and kindness, children can better connect with others. Connection is what it’s all about and why we do what we do!   Alyssa Amidei, MS, CCC-SLPS/L (speech/language pathologist) 

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The most important thing to remember is to not compare your child with others. As a twin, we were always compared to one another in progress. I have a twin brother.  From the beginning of time we learned at different times, in different ways. For example, my twin brother began walking at nine months old, I was almost a year and a half before I walked. We ate the same foods, have the same parents, the same environment, etc. Still, we all learn different and at different times. It's just important that we learn.