Is Your Child an Introvert? Tips to Help Them Excel

 Introverts aren’t shy. That’s one of the first things that parents of introverted children learn early. Unlocking your child’s potential, though, might take a little bit of help. Creative, often passionate, and deep-thinking, introverted children have so much to offer and bring quite a different energy and social dynamic, whether in school or at home. They are often careful and reserved and that usually means people mistake them for being shy. Since schools are often designed to exalt the qualities of extroverted children, your child might have difficulty adjusting to school in a new country. 

Here are tips that might come in handy for you and your kid. 

Talk About Emotions  

Teach your child to talk about his or her emotions. You can make emotion cards that your child can use. It should help them describe what they feel at the moment or at the end of the day. This trains them, getting them into the habit of saying what they feel. 

Encourage Friendships

Do what you can to encourage your child to develop close friendships. Relationships will help your kid come out of his shell. Also, having people that your kid can talk to and be with will do a lot to get him to talk and develop social skills through imaginative play.

Compliment His Behavior 

Compliment him whenever he demonstrates appropriate behavior. For instance, if your child asked you if you wanted to come and play with him, tell him: I liked how you asked me to play with you. Your child will begin to translate these skills and start doing it to other children as he grows older. 

Normalize Asking for Help 

Make sure your child knows it’s normal to ask for help in various situations. A lot of people have a hard time asking for help and an introvert will feel even more so. By normalizing the behavior at such a young age, your child will think nothing of reaching out to others—his friends, teachers, classmates, and you—for help when he needs it. That matters. So many people keep going, not paying any attention to what they feel, only to find themselves at the point of breaking down later. A person who knows how to keep in touch with his emotions, who can tell when he’s not all right and when he needs help, will be better adjusted and well able to take care of himself emotionally. 

Teach Him Calm 

When your child exhausts himself and drives himself to the ground, when he’s on the verge of a breakdown, teach him to find his calm. Teach him to look for calm moments that will help slow down the rush of these emotions and stop a breakdown. Just teaching him how to visualize his favorite place or book and will help him calm down. You can teach your kid to do this so when something upsets him and you’re not there, he’ll know what to do to get his emotions under control. He won’t be led by his emotions. That’s an important skill he’ll need to learn early on, as an introvert who is at the mercy of what he feels will find himself overwhelmed with the world if he doesn’t learn how to deal or cope. 

Establish Safe Zones 

If your child is feeling overwhelmed at any point in the day, tell him to go to a safe zone. Discuss the safe zones with teachers at the new International or Indian school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Also, establish several zones in your home where your child can go when he feels he needs solitude or time to himself to recharge and gather his strength. Your child won’t always be in the mood to explain himself and he’s not being difficult that way. You’ll have to accept that he won’t want to talk on some days. But the more you teach him to control his emotions, the easier it will be for him to control what he feels. That will cut down on the frequency with which he withdraws from the world. 

Tell Them About Introversion 

At one point, your child might wonder why they seem different from other children. It’s all right if you explain introversion, what it means. It would help your kid understand why he feels the way he does. Develop a routine that asks him to describe what he feels at the end of the day. Have your child list his emotions down. That list will help him process and vocalize his feelings. The more he does that, the more he lets those emotions out, just letting them pass through him, the better. The goal is for him not to bottle them inside to prevent a breakdown. 

Motivate Your Child

There’s nothing like constantly complimenting your child on how he manages his emotions. The constant motivation will make him blossom and gain the confidence to connect with other people.