I recently wrote about the benefits of sharpening your listening skills and using empathic listening. The Bradenton Herald has an interesting article by Barbara Brownell that talks about how improving your listening skills can also lead to a better relationship with your kids.

It’s not difficult to understand why. Everyone wants to be understood, including our children. The article talks about five listening skills that parents can develop to promote better interactions with children. They are based on the book How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Faber & Mazlish (a book I’m adding to my reading list.)

The five skills are:

1. Listen quietly and attentively
2. Use prompting responses to keep the conversation flowing
3. Acknowledge and name the feelings
4. Describe the situation back in your own words
5. Empathize with their point of view by recognizing their effort and struggle

One of the main takeaways is that when you really listen to what your children are saying and make the effort to understand their point of view, they will be much more likely to open up and talk to you.

Based on the Amazon reviews, it appears this book is better suited for older children who are more capable of grasping and talking about their emotions, and may not be as applicable for younger children. I’ll post a full review when I finish reading it.

Read the entire article here…

About the Author - Rodger Constandse is the founder of KSuccess.com and creator of the Goal Setting Challenge. He is also the author of the time management eBook Master Your Time, and principal developer of the Achieve Planner software.