How to Teach Compassion Skills with Homeschool Teens

This week on Homeschoool Highschool Podcast: How to Teach Compassion Skills with Homeschool Teens. How to Teach Compassion Skills with Homeschool Teens Vicki and Kym love to talk about compassion and other soft skills. Why? Because they know that teens need to be equipped with various soft skills in order to succeed in life. Employers are often looking for evidence of soft skills when interviewing potential employees. Soft skills help teens to manage friendships and networks successfully. Here are some important soft skills for homeschool high schoolers to master: * Compassion/empathy * Communication * Teamwork and leadership * Problem solving * Interpersonal skills/civility/courtesy * Creativity * Time management * Work ethic/Integrity In this episode, Vicki and Kym are discussing the soft skill: compassion (or empathy). Kym recently read an article about respectful and compassionate ways to communicate with people with disabilities. This is an important issue to Kym because she and her family raise Seeing Eye Puppies (check out our episode about their puppies). Conversing with other teens with their other-abled teens or people who are different can be a wonderful way to spread the love of Christ in the world. Teens can often feel awkward when they are in a new situation, especially with people who are new or have a difference of any kind. (Check out this episode on helping teens create a welcoming culture in their homeschool and church communities.) We, as homeschool parents, can equip our teens to grow beyond the discomfort and gain confidence in their conversational and compassionate skills. (This is actually an excellent addition to Health class.) Here are some easy skills to help build compassion skills with homeschool teens: * When you meet someone different, do not gawk * When you talk with someone different, look at them while you talk * Greet them with a warm tone in your voice * Young children may want to ask a new person about their disability. If they ask politely, that is fine. It is a good conversation starter. However, with teens many people who are new to a group or who have disabilities want to be talked to as if they are a welcomed, included person. * Include the new or different person in activities and group conversations. Invite them to join in. * These things take practice, so having some family practice times for using compassion skills. Role playing is a great way to practice compassion skills. Take turns playing the new or different person and the welcomer. (Practice makes awkward conversations not-awkward!) * Have five questions to ask any new, newish, or different questions, for instance: * I'm So-and-so,