Helping Your Child Become More Confident
This is a collaborative post.
Confidence is important because it helps us feel more positive about life’s experiences. Confident people are more likely to move forward with new opportunities, and are better at overcoming challenges with a positive attitude. With that said, parents should try and find ways to help give their kids a confidence boost. Here are some tips from an independent school in Chorleywood.
Promote Independence
Allow your child to try and solve problems and overcome obstacles independently. If you are always there to save the day, they will never develop the skills and confidence to tackle challenging situations on their own. By giving them independence, you will also show them that you trust them and have faith in their abilities, which will boost their self-esteem.
Encourage Extra-Curricular Activities
The more opportunities children have to develop key skills, the more confident they will become. It doesn’t really matter what extra-curricular activity they pursue, because any hobby or club will give them the chance to become more proficient in their chosen skill. Lots of clubs will also give them the chance to meet new people and build strong relationships, which will also contribute to improved confidence.
Accept Failure
When people fail at something, their confidence tends to take a knock. Help your child by explaining to them that everybody fails sometimes, even adults, and doing so only makes us stronger. Essentially, the idea is to try and help them embrace failure, rather than allowing it to get them down. Remind them that failing is an opportunity for us to learn from our mistakes and do better next time.
Praise Your Child
If you see your child working hard or displaying other positive behaviour, be sure to praise them. It’s always better to focus on rewarding them for the effort they put in, rather than the end result. For instance, if you concentrate on their grades, rather than how hard they’ve revised for their exams, their confidence will take a knock if they don’t get the result they were hoping for. However, if you praise them for trying their best, they will be more inclined to do so again in the future and they will be less likely to suffer from reduced self-esteem.
Encourage Goals
Help your child come up with both short and long-term goals that they can work towards. These goals don’t have to be particularly huge, but every time your child fulfils a goal, they will feel more confident in themselves. The trick is to help them experience that sense of satisfaction that comes hand in hand with accomplishing something.