Child's self-esteem

6 Tips For Boosting Your Child’s Self-esteem

Self-esteem plays a major role in how we feel about ourselves and this has a huge impact on the way we do things in life, our beliefs and attitude. A child with a healthy self-esteem will be more efficient in resisting peer pressure, handling conflict and feeling optimistic towards challenges, mastering new skills and opportunities. Self-esteem may change when a child is growing and is affected by their experiences and how they are perceived. With each milestone and with every mastered skill, children experience a sense of accomplishment which in turn boosts their self-esteem. Parental involvement is paramount to help a child develop a healthy self-esteem.

6 Tips For Boosting Your Child's Self-esteem

6 Tips For Boosting Your Child’s Self-esteem

Gentle Touch

By simply touching your child gently and lovingly i.e. hugging, patting them on the back or placing your hand on their shoulder, you can get the message across that they are important to you.

Listening

By listening to your child despite our hectic lifestyles we can boost their self-esteem. By being too busy and expecting them to wait until we finish work and not talking to them, it may lead to them thinking that they come second to everything else we do.

Be mindful of what you say

Instead of attacking your child as a person, instead focus on the behaviour. Avoid saying thing like: “You are a naughty boy” and rather say: “What you did was naughty”.


Teach them how to be self-confident

Help your child become competent by allowing him to do certain things for himself. This way he can learn how to solve problems by himself through experiencing his world around him.

Give praise

Always acknowledge the successes of your child, but try not to overdo it. Give praise where praise is due.

Encouragement

Encouraging your child while he is struggling with an activity can help improve his self-confidence. You can use encouraging words not to give up and try keep going just a little longer.

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15 comments

    • Kelebogile Sekgalo

      My 9 year old daughter have low confidence so she cannot express herself. I got her a diary so that she can write her thoughts and experiences. And now she can talk to me and I can see her confidence has increased

      • Lynne Huysamen

        Journalling is such an amazing tool for mental health Kelebogile, that is fantastic that your daughter’s confidence has increased!

      • Interesting topic and for me self confidence is the way to go. Love all aspects

    • Thank you so much for this article. As a future foundation phase teacher (I’m in my third year or studies) I found this so enlightening.

      • Lynne Huysamen

        I’m glad you enjoyed this Mishkah and what a fantastic career to follow, teachers are so important and really make such a huge impact on our children.

  1. I enjoyed reading this article, my son has ADHD and when he was attending school was so misunderstood and labeled as naughty. He told me that he knows he’s stupid, his teacher told hkm he was stupid, often enough for him to believe her. We took a chance and I decided to try homeschool. It took me 6 months to build his confidence up again, the reality is that what an adult says to a child, is taken seriously. We need to learn to choose kinder words, the children are the future, we need to build them up and work on their strengths, not their weaknesses.

    • Lynne Huysamen

      That is shocking that teacher spoke to your child in that way! I am so sorry because I know how much words have an effect on kids. I heard a brilliant spin on the old saying Stick and Stones – it goes sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can break your heart and soul.

  2. Thank you, my son struggling with this

    • Lynne Huysamen

      It is so sad when we see out kids struggling with self-esteem Tanya, I’m glad you found this post useful.

    • Chantelle van Zyl

      Thanks for the reminder.
      I think in this rat race we tend to forget sometimes that they are tiny humans still learning and not tiny adults who knows a lot.

  3. I agree with these tips as I am a preschool teacher and they work

  4. The article is so interesting and very considered as i am trying to build up my own confidence as a mom my children are still young i can build up thiers i sometimes struggle with my own

  5. An informative read.

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