Carry-over principle and supporting talents
Encourage talents. This boosts the child’s self-esteem and can carry over into other activities that they aren’t so good at.
Encourage your child while protecting them from unrealistic expectations. Make sure that your child finds value, approval and acceptance in who he/she is from you regardless of how they perform compared to others or to yourself. Having a wall of fame in your house to display the things your child excelled at also helps build confidence.
Encourage expression of feelings
Teach the child to express their feelings comfortably as well as control them. Ensure that you whenever the child expresses his/her feelings to you, you pay attention and show them that you care. If a child thinks that her feelings aren’t important, they may feel that they aren’t worthy.
Screen who your child interacts with
Screen out your child’s friends and monitor their relationship. Examine how the child feels after they interact. If the friend pulls the child’s character or self-esteem down rather than up, you may need to intervene.
Making your home friendly to kids so that you are able to host the neighborhood kids and monitor your child as they interact gives you a chance to see if the child retreats to her home and family in an unhealthy manner or is willing to try out new experiences.
Monitor school influence
At school, children interact with different people who have varied values. Carefully select the school you send them to and monitor the child’s development both in class and socially. The child should be not be shielded from all outside influence yet they should not be overly exposed. Exposing them to diverse values when they are too young may confuse them and cause them to not develop a standing value system. Ground the child in a value system first and guide her as she is exposed to other values. This way, the child will be able to think for herself.
Give responsibilities
A child learns confidence and values as they help maintain the home so give them duties around the house. Give them the household chores that they have shown interest in. Do this early on. For instance, assign your three year old a room to clean and work with them and teach your ten year old to do their own laundry.
Address them by name
When you use the child’s name accompanied by touch and eye contact when addressing them, it says “you are special”. It also gives them the confidence to address others directly. For more information please take a tour at our child care centers in Quincy MA.