Kiddipedia
Confidence is a very important trait in children as it helps them to overcome their weaknesses and embrace their strengths to improve their lives. However, confidence in children does not always come about naturally. That’s why parents should work on raising their children with confidence and self-esteem. And here is how to do it.
- Help the child master a new skill
From birth, children learn simple skills like drinking milk or how to feed themselves. However, as they grow old, the tasks and skills that they need to learn become more complex. For instance, they require learning several subjects in school and may find such tasks quite overwhelming. To build confidence and boost their self-esteem, you should teach the child the art of mastering new skills such as understanding their studies. Ideally, you should teach the child how to accomplish a myriad of activities depending on the child’s age.
- Help the child set goals
Goals help children gain direction and focus in their life. The best thing about goals is that they help children realize that they can accomplish whatever they want depending on their effort and dedication. Teach the child the importance of setting actionable goals; those that they can achieve depending on their strengths and abilities.
You can prioritize on helping them set weekly, month, bi-yearly or yearly goals. Let the child decide what he/she wants to achieve and guide them on working towards their goals. Avoid setting goals for the child as he/she may not be interested in achieving them.
- Be a source of support and encouragement
As a parent, you need to be a source of support and encouragement to your child. If your child realizes that you believe in him/her, the child is bound to feel confident in themselves. This confidence will, in turn, translate into full utilization of their potential and abilities.
The more a child receives external validation by being encouraged and supported by the parent, the easier it becomes easier for the child to feel motivated.
- Let the child make their own decision
It might be difficult for a parent to trust his/her child to make decisions on their own but you should avoid influencing their decision making. If you dictate the child’s action and decisions, it is possible for the child to feel powerless and less motivated.
You should let the child have control over things such as choosing their clothes and what they want to eat. This is an easy way of boosting confidence in the child particularly when they are working on their goals.
- Nurture the child’s special interests
Expose the child to different activities while encouraging the child to find a passion that he really likes or loves doing. Research studies have proved that children who pursue their passion are usually confident in their efforts and are therefore likely to be successful in other things. Special interests and passions mold a child in achieving their full potential.
- Promote problem-solving
When children learn how to solve their problems, it becomes easy for them not to be discouraged or weighed down when they face challenges. Teach your child how to handle failure positively by looking for ways of avoiding the failure and avoid repeating the same mistakes. The key to promoting problem-solving in children is by encouraging positivity in them.
- Criticize constructively
Your child will make mistakes from time to time. When these mistakes occur, you should reprimand and criticize your child in a friendly manner. Positive criticism goes a long way in boosting the confidence of your child rather than making the child feel humiliated after making a mistake. For instance, if your child has been getting into fights lately, you can criticize the child positively by telling the child something like “Play with your friends only or those you get along well”.
- Be patient
When a child is working on mastering a new skill or developing passion in new things, it is important to offer support and be patient with the child. As long as the child shows effort and initiative of trying a new concept, you should appreciate the child’s efforts and exercise patience if the child seems to struggle at first.
Children often look up to their parents for moral support and guidance as they try out new things in their lives. A parent’s experience and tolerance to failure should steer the child towards personal success and achievement of goals.
- Be confident in yourself
The best way to enhance confidence in your child is by being confident in yourself too. Parents need to see setbacks and challenges as an opportunity to grow and diversify their efforts towards success. As such, parents should pass this knowledge to their children.
It is worth noting that the attitudes that parents model in their children are the blueprints of success in their future. Prepare the child for the hardships and challenges that they are likely to face in their life in their pursuit of happiness and success.
- Praise the child’s imperfection
Imperfections are some of the best ways to boost the confidence and morale of children. You should not groom your child to become a perfectionist. Instead, you should learn how to praise the child’s imperfections and train them how to take risks without fear of losing.
As a parent, you need to avoid being overly desperate for your child to succeed and build confidence in themselves. Instead, show your child how to find effort and encouragement in the things they do and teach the child that making mistakes is normal in life.
The highlight of a child’s life is social confidence for purposes of being able to express themselves while playing or interacting with other children. It is important to note that children often experience relational aggression as they adjust themselves to fit among peers and friends.
You need to teach your child how to use emotions to express themselves. This goes a long way in enabling children to handle their emotions and learn that they can have their voice heard when wronged. Always remain objective to your child’s abilities, personalities, and confidence. This will make it easy for the child to believe in him/herself.
This post is written by Danny Nguyen from MyParentingJournal.com. Visit his blog for more information on parenting best practices, tips, advice, and resources.
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