5 Ways You Can Help Your Child Make Friends

Once your child starts school, one of the most important factors in his/her happiness will be their ability to make friends. Some children are naturally shy and have a problem reaching out to others no matter how desperately they want to. Other children have trouble connecting with their peers because they feel like they're different. Still, other children have behavioral problems that interfere with their social skills. Whatever the reason is that your child is having problems associating with others, you can step in and help them out. Here are 5 ways you can help your child make friends:

1. Encourage Your Child to Get Involved
If your child enjoys playing sports like soccer or baseball, encourage them to join a team. If they feel unsure about their sports skills, take time to help them practice batting, kicking, pitching and catching- whatever skills are involved in the sport.

Encourage them the same way if their interests are chess or computers, for example.

If your son or daughter hasn't shown a specific interest yet, they might enjoy becoming a Boy Scout or a Girl Scout. Organizations such as these offer children a wide variety of activities they can enjoy.

2. Teach Your Child Common Social Rules
A child who treats others with respect will naturally attract more friends and have more meaningful relationships in school. To help your child make friends, teach him/her the common social rules. The "golden rule" is "Treat others like you want them to treat you." This means, no hitting, stealing, cheating, lying, yelling or being mean in any way. Encourage your child to share their toys and treats and to be nice people that other children will want to be friends with.

3. Become an Involved Parent
Another way you can help your child make friends is to become involved with his/her school. Volunteer whenever you can and join PTA's and other organizations within the school. This way, you'll be able to meet his/her teachers and other students' parents. You'll also be able to keep abreast of what's going on with your child at school.