How to Build a Child's Self Esteem

Self esteem is the accumulation of thought and feelings we have about ourselves. It affects and influences all aspects of our lives in relationships, work, and goal setting. Start to build your child's self esteem as soon as possible, which will lead to better friendships, higher grades and a more positive outlook on life.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Watch your own actions and be a good role model. This includes listening to your child; truly listen, so that they will in turn listen to you.
2. Take the time to praise your child at least once a day. Encourage your child to make good choices and then praise them for making that good choice. Keep criticism to a minimum.
3. Tell your child what aspect of their behavior you like. Focus on the positive when talking to them. Spend quality time with your child so you will have teachable moments of being able to talk to them about this behavior.
4. Place a family picture in their room on the wall, or at their bedside. This picture represents the people that love them and they can physically see that they belong. Children are in very concrete stages of development and the more concrete you can be the better they will understand.
5. Coach your child to deal with failure and that failing does not mean they are failures. These are stepping stones to new knowledge and understanding about things and themselves. Use your own experiences of failure to help them understand that it's a building block to life. Use this to foster your child's independence and encourage them to try more ideas and not to be afraid to fail.
6. Instruct your child how to set goals and to complete them. This will build not only self confidence but also self esteem.
7. Train your child how to control their feelings. You can do this by having them close their eyes and imagine something fun. By teaching them a technique they can use to control their feelings, your child will then feel more in control and begin to understand they can control their feelings.

Tips & Warnings

• No matter what the age your child, you can always begin the process of building their self esteem. It's never too late.
• Children with low self esteem have trouble in social setting and in school. If you suspect your child is suffering from this, use the steps above to begin the positive process of self esteem building and also seek professional help.