Socialization is one of the five pillars of the Pink program. We often hear that successful socialization is an important part of childhood through which children learn to live and work in harmony with others. How, exactly, do we go about teaching socialization to children?
Whenever we hear, “he doesn’t play well with others,” everyone knows exactly what that means. It usually brings back childhood memories of the sometimes difficult lessons we all learned on the playground. Someone else got to the swing first and made me wait my turn. A bully pushed me off the slide and I scraped my knee. I got caught playing freeze tag and stood frozen for what seemed forever as all of my friends ran around me howling with laughter. Each of these situations taught me something about myself, and about the others children around me.
Childhood is still much the same, and children still need to learn how to play nice together. At pre-school ages, from 3 to 7 years old, the Pink program focuses on just that: teaching children how to get along with others.
Learning to Play Together
Whether it is playing school yard games, making crafts, or listening to story hour, we focus on the basics when they are young, so that they can move on to more advanced topics when they are older.
One of our Pink program goals is to set up non-threatening environments in which kids can learn these lessons together. Moms and Tots is a morning activity for which we invite parents to visit us along with their children. Staff sit and talk with parents, using the opportunity to get to know them and become known in return, while kids learn to play together nearby. It has the double benefit of helping us building trust with parents while getting to know the kids, too.
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