Sibling Rivalry
In many families with more than one child, quarrels, arguments or fights between the children in the family are common. This is often called sibling rivalry, because the assumption is that these disputes are caused by jealousy or envy. This fighting between their children is distressing for parents, who are often unsure about how to stop or prevent it.
Thoughts on sibling rivalry
Rather than regarding the cause of conflict between siblings as being envy or jealousy, it can be more useful to realize that all of us, children included, have an innate tendency to battle with each other, if we don’t learn the skills we need to get along. The natural approach to reducing sibling conflict is therefore to help them acquire the skills, that encourage kindness, collaboration and conflict resolution. I call these ‘sibling skills’.
Focus on one skill at a time and use the Kids’Skills steps to motivate children and make learning these new skills fun.
Identify sibling skills
Engage siblings in a conversation about the skills they need to improve in order to get along with each other better. Some suggestions are listed in the table below.
Rehearse sibling skills
Focus on one skill at a time and use the Kids’Skills steps to motivate children and make learning these new skills fun. Think of sibling relationships as providing your children with excellent opportunities to learn and improve the social skills they’ll need to get along well with others throughout their lives.
Examples of sibling skills
– The skill of caring for your sibling
-The skill of helping your sibling
-The skill of being kind to your sibling
-The skill of talking to your sibling as you talk to your friends
-The skill of thanking your sibling
– The skill of playing nicely with your sibling
– The skill of praising or saying kind words to your sibling
– The skill of allowing your sibling to play with your toys
– The skill of negotiating disagreements without involving adults
– The skill of speaking kindly to your sibling
This article is owned by: Kids’Skills http://www.kidsskillsapp.com/
