Raising Confident Children
Confident children can lead happier and more fulfilling lives, believing in themselves and their abilities as they face new challenges and overcome obstacles. This is one of the greatest gifts you could ever give to your child. Unfortunately, many parents struggle with raising confident children. No blueprints, instructional guides, or how-to videos exist that can guarantee a young beloved will develop confidence.
The good news? We put together eight ways through which you can boost your child’s confidence. Enhance your parenting skills and watch your little one become confident.
1. Be a Good Role Model
Children look up to us as their heroes. They depend on us, trust us, and rely on our strengths. Displaying confident behavior can go a long way toward building and strengthening confidence in children. Approach new tasks and challenges with optimism. Show your child that preparation is key and believing in your abilities can help overcome obstacles.
However, children can sense if you’re faking it. Hence, acknowledge your fears or anxieties, and show a model on how to handle them rather than hide them. Show your child that things always have two sides, and focusing on the positives is more fulfilling and rewarding. Children are like sponges and will absorb and model themselves based on the role models they have around them. This is why showing rather than telling is more important.
On this note, keep in mind that no one is perfect, so be gentle if you fail in certain areas. You cannot control everything, but you sure can model the way you act in front of failure.
2. Give Your Child Responsibilities
The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry found that children doing household chores cope more effectively with adversity and frustration. They are more responsible and show higher self-esteem, too. These attributes are crucial foundations for confidence. Kids perform better in school if you give them small, doable household responsibilities. They will be more confident, conscientious, and dependable.
For example, a three-year-old toddler can help wipe the table top, while your five-year-old can assist in preparing the dinner table. Another point for delegating responsibility in your home is that it is very easy for this to become second nature, and normal at a young age, where later in life it can be difficult to adapt to this. Fostering a positive relationship between your children and their responsibilities will make their adulthood easier.
3. Ensure Your Child Can Handle Challenges
While challenging your child is essential in their development, choosing the right challenges is even more important. Assigning simple household tasks builds children’s confidence. Giving them developmental age-appropriate tasks can improve self-reliance. For instance, letting a two-year-old tie shoelaces can be a stretch because their fine motor skills are not as refined as in older kids. A more appropriate “challenge” would be to stack at least four toy blocks into a tower.
Parents are often concerned about their child’s developmental milestones. This can be daunting, as each child is unique and the literature on the topic is not always consistent. The most important thing to remember is that each child is unique. We can see this even in identical twins, and it is important to remember that each child has its own pace in growing and developing. This is especially difficult when a child seems to be behind in certain aspects compared to peers or siblings.
At Footsteps Nurseries, we work closely with parents, guided by the EYFS, and in partnership with other professionals to ensure every child is on the right track, supported, and cared for according to their needs. Through our reports and observations, we always track progress and make sure that each child is working closely with their key carer for his or her best outcomes.
4. Encourage Your Kid to Share Their Thoughts and Choose
Letting children’s voices be heard is very important. Within certain cultures, this is not the norm, so bringing it to awareness is a must. It is one of the proven ways to raise a confident child. Children will know you respect them and value their feelings and thoughts by doing so, and will learn to find and express boundaries.
Start with simple daily activities. What do they think about their clothing? What about their bedtime routine? Small adjustments that do not make a real difference for you as a parent can mean a lot for the little one. Picking a green or a red t-shirt to buy might not mean a lot to you, but for that child, it could be the trademark of their choices being respected and to a certain extent embodied.
Encouraging children to voice their opinions teaches them about their roles. It also helps them believe everyone can influence their surroundings and the world. If they learn that their opinions and thoughts matter, they will internalize being a healthy adult while also learning to respect others.
5. Emphasise the Small Steps, Not the End Result
Life is a learning process, and if we find satisfaction only in the end results, the process becomes very difficult. This is why teaching children that the steps leading to the result are just as important as the result is crucial. Children learn to be confident when they appreciate the journey or the process, empowering them to meet and overcome obstacles in a resilient way. Building confidence in young children takes time. Tell your child that making mistakes is normal, while they learn to improve. Praise children for their effort (i.e., making daily improvements in their self-care), pointing out its relationship to the outcomes (i.e., good grades).
6. Avoid the Rescue Mentality
Most parents don’t want to see their children suffer or experience difficulties. Many tend to rescue kids from challenges, thinking doing so will make the child’s life easier and more comfortable. Unfortunately, such tactics can lead to dependency issues. It is like doing a child’s homework to help ensure good grades. Sure, your child will ace the assignments, but they might not learn much in the process.
Coming from a place where you assist your children rather than rescuing them makes a great difference. When you rescue them, you invest yourself in an entity that comes and does for them and instead of them (which is much needed often). When you assist them, they learn that they can get support from others, while they attribute part of what just happened to their own ability, growing with more confidence.
7. Praise the Right Way
Research suggests praising children based on their effort, not their intelligence. Neuroscientist Andrew Huberman and psychologist Carol Dweck emphasise the importance of effort-based praise in fostering a growth mindset. Instead of telling your child they are smart or talented, focus on their hard work and perseverance.
For instance, say, “I’m proud of how hard you worked on that project” instead of “You’re so smart.” This type of praise encourages children to embrace challenges and learn from mistakes, knowing their effort is valued. It helps them understand that their abilities can grow with dedication and persistence, leading to greater confidence and resilience.
Keep an eye on our other articles as we will be soon posting one that talks just about this.
Final Thoughts
Confident children can lead happier and more fulfilling lives, believing in themselves and their abilities as they face new challenges and overcome obstacles. This is one of the greatest gifts you could ever give to your child. Unfortunately, many parents struggle with raising confident children. No blueprints, instructional guides, or how-to videos exist that can guarantee a young beloved will develop confidence.
The good news? We put together eight ways through which you can boost your child’s confidence. Enhance your parenting skills and watch your little one become confident.
