Importance of Affirming Your Children
You have to be your child’s number one
cheerleader and teacher.- Donia Narh
Over the next 26 weeks, I will be sharing a number of strategies that I have successfully used over the years to effectively raise the self esteem and academic achievement of children and young people in various schools and organisations. These strategies are easy to implement and I have also used them with my own children. If you find them useful, feel free to leave a comment below.
Affirmation
It is important that parents affirm their children continuously as children often question their capabilities based on the various encounters in their lives. Their peers, for instance, may make them feel inadequate. The inability to complete a task could also leave a child questioning his or her abilities.
Certainly, parents should not overly praise their children as this would be counter-productive. Your child however should be able to depend on you to reassure them when they have gotten something wrong or are unsure of themselves.
Bringing up children to be arrogant or over-confident will certainly not benefit them in the long run, unless they plan to work alone forever.
In order to affirm your child, you need to know and understand your child. Children with good self-esteem are more likely to excel, therefore take time to be with and get to know your child.
It is said that your presence is better than your presents.