Top tips for boosting your child's self-esteem this year

This is a collaborative post.

Self-esteem is the way someone feels about themselves so boosting your child self-esteem is important. In the same way adults do, children go through different phases in their life where their self-esteem dips and peaks. This is due to challenges that life may throw at them as well as pressures that may affect them such as social media, exams, bullying or home life.

Big changes such as moving home and starting a new school can also affect a child’s confidence. However, support from parents and teachers can help children work on this and get them through the toughest of times. Here are some top tips from this upper school in London on boosting your child’s self-esteem.

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Take a step back

Try not to overpraise your child. Self-esteem roots in being loved and feeling secure. The majority of the time, parents will praise their child to ensure that they constantly feel supported.

However, this can end up doing more harm than good. Telling your child that they are amazing at everything they do, will end up lowering the bar for them.

This indirectly tells your child that they don’t need to push themselves as they are already good at everything. In turn, when they come across something that others say they are not good at, it will only confuse them more.

Confidence comes from failure and trying again. It’s about being persistent and putting in the effort to achieve goals. Remind your child that the aim is to work hard and gain confidence, not to be perfect.

Let your child take risks

As hard as it sounds, allowing your child to take risks can actually help boost their self-esteem. Begin by forcing yourself to stand back and allow your child to take healthy risks.

In order to build confidence in this world, children have to make their own choices and take responsibility for them.

It can be easy to jump in and rescue your child when you sense failure but allow them to taste what it is like to fail once and try again. This is key to building confidence and strong self-esteem.

Offer the right praise

Although praise can be overused, it doesn’t mean you should avoid it entirely. When it is valid and earned, you should praise your child as much as you can as it is a valuable self-esteem builder.

You can do this in small ways such as writing a positive note for your child if they are feeling down, or simply reminding them of their past achievements. Be supportive, your child’s self-esteem will build over time.