The more self-confident children are and the stronger their self-esteem, the better they can deal with themselves, life, and other people. Experts agree that the basis for healthy self-confidence is laid in childhood.
Parents, teachers, and friends have an enormous influence on this development. We will show you strategies for everyday parenting that will make your child strong and strengthen their self-confidence.
1. Don’t do everything for your child
All parents want their children to go through life strong and confident. But how can you achieve this goal? Certainly not by putting all obstacles out of the way for their children, constantly criticizing them, or comparing them with others. We have compiled the most important points in everyday upbringing that lead to a strong sense of self-worth for you in eight points.
2. Give him security for a strong self-confidence
A strong self-confidence can only develop if you know yourself and your feelings. To achieve this, children need the opportunity to talk about themselves and their perceptions. If you ask your child regularly how they are doing and what they are thinking, you will show that you appreciate them.
Show an interest in their thoughts and what they’re doing. Show your child that you take them seriously and that you are interested in their point of view. This is how to build self-confidence.
Positive sentence: “How are you today?”
3. Acknowledge effort: “It’s great how you tried!”
Recognition from parents, teachers, and friends is very important to building good self-esteem. Be sure to praise your child’s positive behavior, not their grades.
This will make your child feel loved for their own sake, not for their successes. Positive sentence: “It’s great that you went through to the end, although you couldn’t win anymore.”
Choose three or four weeks of the summer vacation when your child does or experiences something different than normal everyday life. Of course, a vacation is ideal here, but also a visit to the grandparents, a swimming pool week, or an excursion.
Affirmation cards can boost your child’s self-confidence. Affirmation for children, Hand-painted animal portraits, kid-friendly affirmation cards, engaging stories, and interactive play will help children to learn with fun.
Every evening you write down together which unusual or new situations your child has coped with during the day. Maybe he jumped off the springboard, made new friends, or won a game of board.
Every positive experience is recorded and reread at the end of the agreed time. Then draw up a summary: “Great, what you dared to do during this time! I notice exactly how you are becoming more and more independent and how your self-confidence is growing… ”
4. Motivation: “Just try it out!”
Children need support and help when they doubt themselves in order to strengthen their self-confidence. This happens especially when they have to try new things, but something doesn’t work right away. Encourage your child, again and again, to try something new and only offer your help and support if your child gets stuck himself.
Positive sentence: “Start already, I’ll help you if you get stuck.”
5. Safe haven: “I love you!”
Once a day, take the time to hug your child and tell them you love them. Do not link this declaration of love to success or failure. Show your child that they are loved simply because they are your child. That will boost his confidence.
Positive sentence: “I am very happy that you are my child.”
6. Clear announcements: “It would be nice if you could hurry up.”
Of course, your child is not perfect either. Maybe they get angry too quickly, annoy their siblings, or are a junk dealer. Criticism is allowed and an important part of education. But be careful, not personality to criticize (it annoys me that you are such a slow Guy.), but rather the behavior (I wish that you get up earlier so that we are not always so late in the morning). This is the only way to increase self-confidence.
Positive sentence: “If you manage to sit at the table at seven tomorrow, I’ll dance the moonwalk for you.”
Imaginative stories encourage children to master the small and large challenges of everyday life. They strengthen the self-confidence of the little ones and give comfort.
7. Strengthening the unique selling point: “You are unique!”
Show your child that they are unique and special. Never compare it to anyone else, as doing so will undermine his self-esteem. When you highlight others to your child, you are conveying that your child is not okay and not lovable.
Positive sentence: “No child can look as fondly as you when they want something.”
8. Carry on: “Don’t worry if you trip. Just get up again! “
In order to develop healthy self-esteem, children need to learn at an early age that mistakes are part of life. Defeats and failures are simply part of it. The sooner children learn, the easier it is for them to put up with frustrations and try again. Parents who want to do everything for their children are doing them a disservice. This form of overprotection means that children do not develop inner strength and cannot deal with problems.
Positive sentence: “Try again, at some point you will make it.” ”
Science says that adults are good at coping with crises
- They have always been encouraged and emotionally supported in childhood.
- they had parents who were confident and resilient.
- they had already experienced in childhood that they could make a difference themselves.
This feeling makes your child strong
As an adult, you know that life is impossible without setbacks and painful experiences. The feeling of being able to manage these situations helps you through everyday life. Your child has to experience this first in order to later be able to act powerfully and optimistically in difficult situations.
Use every opportunity to show your child that problems can be solved. Be a role model because that’s how children learn the most.
