As a parent of young children, I have learned how important it is to teach them to be confident in themselves. Most children are curious from birth, they start learning senses and as soon as they are mobile and they will explore EVERYTHING. At this point, many children are held back for their own safety or other reasons. You don't want them to get hurt, so you say "don't do that". After a while a some children will be less prone to explore, for fear of disapproval.
You want your children to grow up with as few restrictions as possible. You want them to succeed in life. This is why it is so important to instill self confidence as they learn from a young age. Below are six keys to building confidence in children. They are a starting point for you to help your children start life in the positive direction.
- Let your child know you love them. Children and even adults often need reassurances. Doing this from a young age will help them overcome any future hurdles in their emotional development.
- Form a close bond. Allow your child to form an attachment to you.
- Be a good model for self-esteem, don't put yourself down. Always practice what you preach.
- Praise effort as much as results. You need to do this so children are not afraid to fail. Failure is a part of life, what is important is to learn from the failures and build upon the experience toward future success.
- Identify and recognize special talents. Everyone likes to feel special. Knowing you can do something others cannot can help boost your confidence when faced with hurdles in life.
- Find a distinguishing trait and praise it. Make them feel special. Building upon number five, knowing you have a special talent may not be enough. You need to build a habit of praising children and yourself for the special trait or talent you have identified. Constant reminders will keep you from falling into an emotional slump.
2 comments:
Excellent post! I work in education, and get to see kids whose family does not put these into practice (sometimes they do quite the opposite.)
The site update looks very professional.
anonymous, I'm so glad you like it. I can't say we implement all the points successfully, but taking a step closer each day to this list is a great start. We are still a young family and have much to learn. My wife also works in education and works with very young children.
Very glad you like the site update!
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