Boost Your Child's Self-Esteem

Self esteem is quite simply, loving, respecting and having faith in oneself. To develop a healthy self esteem is extremely important as it helps kids not only in there day to day behavior but also in becoming a confident and matured adult.

A lack of self esteem results in many behavioral problems, difficulty in learning and performing and a lot of emotional problems due to lack of confidence. A healthy amount of self esteem on the contrary gives your child the ability to accept his mistake and learn from them and be open to criticism.

You as a parent can do the following to enhance his self esteem.

• First of all, make him feel important. Do not ignore what he is saying and value his opinions even though you might not agree with them.


• Keep telling him that you love not just him but also the way he is. That is, not just because he is your child but because of the way he is as a person.


• When you want to correct him, try and correct his behavior. Tell him that the thing that he did was wrong, instead of telling him that he was wrong.


• Try and understand that it is not possible for your child to behave correctly all the time.


• Children like grown ups experience a lot of emotions but they do not know how to handle them. Due to this, they might be behaving in an unusual manner. Your being understanding during these mood swings and providing them with love and support will help them maintain their confidence.


• Make your approach positive. While teaching them anything, use positive language.


• If your child is taking time in following something, instead of saying that he's not getting it right, say that he has almost got it. Instead of saying that he is wrong, say that he is almost right.


• If your child comes home to tell you that he is not good at something his classmate is at and you feel that this is making him feel low, let him know that it is understandable to feel this way however it is not necessary that he has to be good at everything.


• Tell him that nobody is perfect and point out something that he might be really good at.


• Do not show too high expectations from your child as he will keep measuring his performance according to how much he has met your expectations. If they are to unrealistic and he is not able to match them then obviously he will start feeling that he is incapable of something.


• Also do not show that you expect too less of him as that might make him feel that you do not think he can perform better.

Another important lesson that you need to give to your child which will help him have a good self esteem is to accept his mistakes and learn from them. Everybody makes mistakes, it is only human to do so. What is important is to not get disheartened by them but to learn from them and move ahead.

A child with high self esteem becomes a better learner and a more confident and secured person. Since he respects himself, his values, morals and the way he is, he is able to respect and accept others better too.