Instil Confidence in Your Child

Outgoing and confident people are some of the most beloved members of society. They are able to pursue their goals in life with a sense of purpose and confidence that is seemingly unshakeable. There is a lot to be said about confidence and the effect it has on a person. We learn quickly that confident people tend to power their confidence from within. Confidence is a seed that is planted within children from an early age but how does it take place?

How do children become confident? Confidence appears at an early age and it seems that it starts out slightly fragile but it needs to be cultivated to become strong and resilient. As a parent, there are things we can do to make our children more confident and self-assured.

Reinforcement

Good words lead to good deeds. Just like a well-placed compliment helps cement a relationship, telling your child what he or she has done well achieves the same and perhaps, even more. When your child does something or tries to do something impressive, it is important to compliment him or her. This tells your child that he or she is doing something right. There is no need to praise every action or activity because that would devalue the praise.

You don’t have to be the only source of praise and encouragement of your child. In fact, it is equally important to surround your child with positive people and create a positive environment. Children see the environment around them and they simply absorb so many characteristics and factors without even realizing it. You simply increase the chance of raising an independent and confident child by creating a positive environment that reinforces good behaviour.

The flipside to confidence is overconfidence and arrogance. ‘Pride goes before a fall’ is the old idiom and it rings true especially in this circumstance. It is one thing to create an environment that nurtures and reinforces a child’s behaviour positively but your child shouldn’t feel invulnerable. While it is important to let your child try new things, it is equally important to let them learn their own lessons.

You can’t always be a safety net and the environment can’t be one either. Hopefully, your child will understand the upper limits of confidence and you’ll be around to make sure that the consequences of an overconfident mistake will not be serious.

Promote Independence

Independence and self-confidence are innately connected. People who can take care of themselves tend to be more self-confident because they are not reliant on the help of others. You can promote this level of independence by give your child something to do.

Giving a child a responsibility and watching them see through the task to the end is an excellent example of empowerment and confidence. When your child knows that he or she can do something and that this task is entrusted to him/her, it does wonders for confidence.

It pays to be thorough so don’t be afraid to show your child what he or she did to achieve the good result in the end. Showing evidence of what self-confident behaviour and responsibility can yield much more for the child. Your child will get to see why it was a good result and be encouraged to keep it up and accept more responsibilities in the future, not just from you but in other situations as well.

Finally, you can always help your child become more confident and independent by getting them into the practice of setting goals. Normally, parents provide their children with incentives or targets for achieving certain goals and milestones but you can also help your child identify goals.

Encouragement, positive thinking, goal-setting are all powerful things you can add to your parenting framework. At Apple Tree Kindergarten, we attempt to nurture that confidence in your child as well and we hope to instil the confidence in them with our positive environment and encouragement.