Note to the trainer: This step is entirely focused on field practice. Help participants recognise that daily routines in the institution are laboratories for social skills. Emphasise that social skills develop not through reading books, but by living, repeating and making mistakes in a safe environment.
Method: Questions and answers and brainstorming.
Materials: Whiteboard and notepaper.
Establishing the concept: The trainer first presents the basic principle:
“Dear colleagues, so far we have discussed listening to children properly, using empathy, turning conflict into an opportunity and reading social cues. How do all these skills become established in children’s minds? The answer is simple: repetition, repetition and repetition. Social skills are like muscles: they weaken when they are not used and become stronger through small exercises every day. Every shared meal, every division of tasks and every group game in your institution is in fact an opportunity for social-skills exercise.”
Daily practice opportunities: The trainer writes “Social Skills Laboratory in the Institution” on the board and invites participants to contribute through brainstorming. The following patterns are then shared: preparing a meal together - children divide tasks, wait for their turn, ask for help and say thank you; cleaning a room - they negotiate and practise resolving disagreements; group games - skills in setting rules, objecting and reaching compromise develop naturally; listening circle - every evening everyone shares the best and most difficult moment of the day, while the caregiver only listens and does not comment.
“My Social Compass” card: Suggest the following practical activity: once a week in the institution, sit individually with each child and ask three questions: ‘Do you remember who helped you this week?’ ‘Did you upset anyone this week; did you notice?’ ‘Is there anything you would like to do differently next time?’ These three questions quietly but powerfully develop the child’s social awareness and self-evaluation skills.
Closing question: The trainer closes the step by asking: “Which of your institution’s daily routines could you turn into a conscious social-skills practice using what we have learnt today? Ask two people in each group to share.”