Having a confident child can benefit them in the future as it will open them up to more opportunities and can act as a shield when your child encounters challenges in life.
So, here are some ways you as a parent can help your child to gain more confidence in the things they do.
Give them compliments
Complimenting your child can greatly help boost their confidence. It is a way to show your child that you are proud of them. Praising your child for their efforts put into their studies or extracurricular activities can help them get better at them. Praises such as ‘Good job!’ and ‘You are getting better and better in these tests!’ can encourage more effort from your child than complimenting them only when they got an ‘A’ in their examinations.
Ban harsh criticism or comparison
Prevent from saying harsh words such as “You are so lazy!” or having comparisons such as “Why can’t you be just like your cousin who is smart and hardworking!”. Such messages your child hears can make them feel bad about themselves and it is not motivating at all. When children hear negative messages about themselves, it will shrink their self-confidence. However, it will be better if you correct your kid with patience and guidance. Teach them ways to better improve themselves.
Teach them how to see a situation from a different light
Teaching your child to see situations from a different light can let them know that there’s always another path and it is not the end. For example, your child may not be faring well in school and thinks that this is it. They will never succeed in life. But as a parent, you can teach them to view this ‘failure’ in a different light. There is always room for improvement and grades don’t determine their success. With such different viewpoints being presented to your child, they will feel less hopeless and gain more confidence to do better the next round.
Support their interests
Observing what hobbies your child may like is important in instilling confidence in them too! Pay close attention to what they do well and enjoy, and make sure that they will have chances to develop such strengths. It will be better to allow your child to focus and develop on these strengths than weaknesses if you wish to help them feel better about themselves. In the long run, your child will feel that there’s an aspect that they can excel at and this improves their confidence levels.
Be a good role model
Being a good role model is important too. When you put in effort into your everyday tasks, your child will see the right attitude that their parents are using and they will also slowly learn from you and do the same. For example, having the patience to learn different recipes together with your child can be a good way to model the right attitudes. Cooking might not come easy for all and there will be times when the food does not taste how it is supposed to. From this, you can teach your child resilience and not give up on the recipe. You can try following the recipe again and find out what went wrong the first time.
Showing your child how to be resilient and learning from their mistakes can help them gain confidence in the things they do because in life, we need to learn from our failures and learn to do better the next time.
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