12 Tips on Building Your Child's Self Esteem
A dynamic relationship exists between skill development and self esteem. As the child's mastery over tasks increases, his self esteem and confidence improves. As a child's self esteem improves, so will his academic competence which in turn have a positive impact on self esteem. Hence, positive self-esteem is both a prerequisite and a consequence of academic success.
Here are 12 tips on how to reinforce a child’s self-esteem:
- Value each individual child with an unique strengths, needs, interests and abilities.
- Focus, emphasize and celebrate the child’s strengths.
- Reject the child’s behavior, but never reject the child. Avoid sarcasm and words which belittle.
- Establish realistic, achievable goals for your child. Have positive expectations and anticipate success.
- Understand that mistakes are a valuable part of any learning experience. Take these as opportunities to teach.
- Divide large tasks into smaller, specific steps to facilitate success, mastery, and retention.
- Emphasize the positive aspects of his performance or behaviour. Reward direction, not perfection.
- Show genuine interest in his interests and hobbies. Sincere interest has a positive effect on self worth and esteem.
- Encourage interests in sports, either individual or team. These are great opportunities for success, exercise, and peer interaction.
- Keep record of his successes on file. These serve to encourage when he is having down periods.
- Teach and encourage problem solving and decision making skills. Praise and reward when good decisions are independently made.
- Communicate your confidence in his success and his future.
As a parent, do remember that your child's self esteem is determined by the conditional acceptance of his peers and others within the social setting, but unconditional acceptance from you.
Copyright (C) 2003 Explora Learning Company Pte Ltd, For reprint permission.
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