Compromise, Kids!

A great way to increase a child's ease in social situations and, and to improve behavior, is to teach the idea of compromise early on.

For a child, a compromise can be defined as something that -

1. makes both people happy

2. but also requires both people to be FLEXIBLE - and not get exactly what they want

These two components are key for getting a child to follow through with a compromise while also understanding why it was suggested. And, as a child grows, coming up with compromises becomes more instinctive - and he / she starts to do it independently.

A great time to model, and discuss compromises, is in daily disputes. This might not be the best time to ask a speech / language question, but it is a great time to model how to make a compromie.

For example,

"We are going to watch _____ today and _____ tomorrow. That way, we get to watch both - which is good. But we are not going to watch both at the same time, or on the same day - and we are going to be flexible"

That's all! Simple modeling, and your child will be generating compromises independently with time.

And, if you want to practice some compromise-making, check out Smarter Speech's "Compromise, Kids!" worksheet on Tpt!

Happy Talking!

Disclaimer : Smarter Speech is a pediatric speech therapy / speech-language pathology practice for toddlers and children providing in-home and teletherapy services in and around Mountain View, CA and Los Gatos, CA. Smarter Speech Blog aims to provide free speech and language tips for parents educators and therapists. However, this post is not providing speech-language pathology services. This is general information, not speech -language pathology or speech therapy. This article does not assume or create a client – SLP relationship. The author is not liable for any losses or damages due to actions or failure to act based on the content in this article. If you need assistance with a child’s speech or language needs, please contact a speech-language pathologist in your area.