Self confidence is an excellent attribute that can help a child
succeed from an early age. Instilling self confidence at an
early age will enforce the importance of possessing the
necessity of this attribute and ensure your child will
experience success early on is his or her life. Low self
confidence can be exhibited in many ways depending on your
child. There are many cues to look for that can tell if you
child is beginning to lose or experiencing low self confidence.
These cues can by extreme shyness, hesitance to begin projects,
negative attitudes towards him or herself, overt frustration at
having to try new things, and inability or fear when it comes to
making even the simplest decision.
Parents can begin teaching self confidence immediately after
their child is born. Provide endless encouragement when your
child is developing new skills or trying new things. Young
children especially need encouragement since they are continuing
to develop new skills on a daily basis.
Whether physical or mental, these important developmental times
can range from your child taking his or her first steps to
learning to read. Each step in your child's development is
exceedingly important and, in order to be completed as soon as
possible, should be thoroughly reinforced in a positive manner.
This positive reinforcement will encourage your child to work
harder in completing the task at hand.
Teachers can teach self confidence from the moment a child
enters the classroom. Carefully monitor each child's progress in
each subject and skill covered in your curriculum to ensure your
students are accomplishing their academic goals and not falling
behind with any aspect of your teaching. This is invaluable to
teachers of all subjects and all ages of children. Create ways
to praise or reward your students when classroom or individual
goals are accomplished.
This will encourage children to strive to meet these goals and
reinforce their self confidence. Take great care not to use
negative measures to reproach or criticize your students.
Correcting issues using a positive demeanor can enable the child
to understand your point more clearly while retaining their self
confidence. Negative tones or attitudes taken towards your
students can do considerable harm to both their mental and
emotional development and well-being.
Create situations where your child can work on his or her self
confidence. Enroll your child in a sports program or other
activity to allow him or her to express interests and develop
new goals. A child who participates in activities such as
athletics, dance, scouts, or music has more opportunities to try
new things and develop new skills. These opportunities will
allow children to further develop their self confidence while
gaining new friends and experiences in these activities.
Take great care to support your child in any activity he or she
decides to undertake. Your child may not be the next great
baseball player or a world famous piano prodigy, so be aware of
the varying levels of success that can be accomplished. A child
can succeed by maintaining a positive attitude and attacking
each hurdle with enthusiasm and enjoyment. Do not necessarily
associate success in the activity with the overall success of
the experience.
Even though your child may not be able to dunk a ball with
professional precision, he or she will have gained a phenomenal
experience and self confidence during the duration of the
activity.
When working with children of any age, you must lead by
example. If your child shows that you possess a great amount of
self confidence, he or she will develop a great amount of self
confidence as well. Conversely, if you lack self confidence and
show your child this by being negative, hesitant, or meek, he or
she will not understand or appreciate the necessity of having
high self confidence.
About the author:
Tony Robinson spent many years as a School Teacher and
Administrator. Always of concern was low self esteem and a lack
of confidence with some students. For more information visit
http://www.better-self-esteem.com
