10 Great Ways To Build Positive Self Esteem In Your Child

Starting to nurture self-esteem of children is best done in pre-school children; this would build the foundation of self-worth in our children early in life and help them lead a successful and full life. Instilling self-esteem in children is an important responsibility or a life skill we need to teach our children.

Here are the 10 great ways to build positive self-esteem in our young children:  

1.Shower unconditional love on your child; accepting children as they are  irrespective of their strengths, weaknesses and temperament helps children realize their self worth. Assuring the child of our love with cuddles, kisses and pats on the shoulder helps; correcting children should be done without wounding their self-worth.

2. Allot some time to pay attention to your child; this would make him/her feel important and valuable. The time given to the child need not necessarily be long, however make sure to make eye contact while listening, so he/she is sure you are listening to them.  

3. Set certain clear and consistent family rules and be strong in enforcing them; this would make the child feel more secure in living up to your expectation and the child will feel good about it.

4. Encourage your child to explore new things; supporting healthy risks like new foods and riding a new tricycle would instill the strong notion in the child that certain successes come only upon taking risks. Also encourage independence and allow the child to tackle minor frustrations; this will bring about independence and confidence.     

5. Remember mistakes will happen, so do not discourage your child; making mistakes could instill valuable lessons for your child to cultivate self confidence, in addition to helping him/her to accept and overcome shortcomings.  

6. Acknowledge and encourage the positive things in your child; saying positive things at your child’s earshot makes him/her very happy and proud of oneself.    

7. Resist making both positive and negative comparisons of your child with other children; positive comparisons make it hard for the child to live up to the image, while negative comparisons make him/her feel bad. Build a positive self image in your child by accepting him/her as one is.

8. Be specific in your praise; Say “Thanks for looking after your brother”, instead of “Well done job” would tell your child what job he/she has done well and would enhance ones feeling of achievement and self-worth. 

9.Listen carefully and empathically to your children; this coveys the message to them that their thoughts and feelings matter. It is also advisable to make the child  comfortable with his/her emotions and feelings and to share your feelings too. This would encourage your child opening out with his/her feelings, with showing empathy to their feelings and frustrations making them feel valued.  

10. Encourage your child and acknowledge progress; reward the person and not the task alone. Offering encouragement in place of praise makes the child feel good about him/her; so praise judiciously and shower encouragement liberally.  

Are you all set to build positive self esteem in your child, who is the apple of your eyes?