- summeralameel
Tips to Empower Your Child and Boost Their Confidence
Updated: Mar 4, 2021
Children can be especially sensitive as they develop and grow, and their school years may prove to be the most trying years as children develop self-confidence. During these years, children experience physical and mental changes, and they begin to socialize with other children, teachers, and other adults. It can be daunting to be confident, and it’s okay for a child to feel fragile — many of us adults still feel that way from time to time! Fortunately, parents can help their children to feel confident, improving their morale, their self-image, and their interactions with other children and people in their lives.
Now, self-confidence may be even more difficult to obtain for children with disabilities. On top of the aforementioned obstacles, your child may have unique challenges that he or she must face. If you’re looking for ways to improve your child’s confidence, we’re here to help. Below, we’ve cataloged a few tips that you can try out in order to improve your child’s self-confidence. And as always, you can count on us to lend you a helping hand with caregiving and respite care services, so that you can take care of yourself while we help your child to care for themselves!
Pick Appropriate Goals
Good goal setting means setting high, yet attainable goals. Hitting a goal can be a huge confidence booster for children, and even mini-goals can be rewarding. Help your child to create and set goals for themselves, and strive to create mini-goals along the way to break up bigger goals into manageable pieces. You can also help your child to reach their goals by offering up rewards along the way — perhaps treats for doing homework, and a video game for good grades at the end of the year.
Encourage, But Don’t Overpraise
While it may seem counterintuitive, parents should remain mindful that they don’t want to overpraise their children. Too much praise may come off as insincere, and constant overpraising can make individual triumphs feel less special. Help your child to praise themselves for their achievements, and be mindful of the language you use as your child accomplishes their goals. For example, you might consider saying “You must be proud of yourself,” instead of “I’m so proud of you,” to encourage your child to be more self-sufficient and self-confident.
Learning Through Mistakes
We all make mistakes, and there’s a lesson in that. While we want to protect our children, allowing them to make mistakes and recognize those mistakes is a valuable lesson. Again, don’t coddle your child as they navigate through various obstacles in their life. Instead, praise them for trying and trying again when things don’t go perfect the first time. You can also make light of setbacks that your child encounters by talking about your own experiences, so they recognize that a misstep is temporary and common — everyone has them.
The Hands-Off Approach
Along those lines, it can be helpful to a child’s confidence to take more of a hands-off approach. Enabling your child to make their own choices empowers them, and it’s a natural stepping stone to the adult world, where we all make our own choices. Beyond that, when your child makes their own choice, they’ll feel more fulfillment and self-worth, and they’ll hold more value in the results of their choices.
Extra Care for Your Child
Often, caring for your child means caring for yourself. Here at Inland Respite, we aim to aid parents of children with disabilities in order to help them raise their child while remaining happy and healthy themselves. If you could use a helping hand, we’re here for you. Call on us to get respite care services to provide additional support for your child and to provide you with much deserved respite. Simply reach out to us to learn more or to get started — we have a number of professional caretakers working throughout much of Southern California.