When you have a child there is so many things to think about. This child is solely your responsibility, they are completely dependent on you to look after them and to raise them right. You’re responsible for ensuring that they’re well fed, that they’re eating all the right foods to make sure they’re nourished properly, that they sleep enough, that they learn to walk around the write age, that they learn to talk around the right age, that they can read and write etc. There are so many basic things to think about and then on top of that you want to make sure that your child is happy and you want to make sure that they’re confident in themselves. There is a lot of pressure on parents to find the right balance between teaching their children how to behave and to have good morals, without damaging their self-confidence and their self-esteem. If you’re nervous about ensuring that your child is growing up confident so that they can do the things they want to do and form relationships with people as they grow up then we’ve found some great tips on how you can teach your child to be more confident.

What is confidence?

Confidence is the having faith in yourself and believing in yourself. Children are always being exposed to new situations and experiences and they have to have confidence to be able to handle them and grow as a person. When children start school they have to make new friends which can be nerve-wracking and they have to do things such as read out loud in front of the other children or raising their hands in class to ask a question, to be able to do these things they need to have self-confidence. Some children are naturally confident and don’t have to work on themselves to be confident but other children are shy and it is up to you to nurture them and help them to believe in themselves. Confidence is so important that some of the Best Quotes About Life are focused around it, reading some great quotes to your child is a great way to help them become more confident. Our personal favorite was said by Marcus Garvey – “With confidence, you have won before you’ve started”.

Appreciate your child’s effort

One way to help nurture your child’s self-confidence is to always celebrate your child when they try anything. It is important when you’re raising a child that you focus on the journey not the destination, it isn’t just about what they achieve but the life lessons they learn alone the way whilst they’re trying anything new. For example, if you child starts to participate in sport you shouldn’t put too much pressure on them to win as if they don’t this will have a negative impact on their confidence, even if they kick the ball off the field, you should congratulate them for trying and for carrying on, even though they made a mistake.

Give your child new challenges

Even as an adult, the best way to learn and to build confidence is to avoid staying in your comfort zones all the time and instead pushing these boundaries. This applies to your child too, if you want them to grow and learn then you’ll need to provide them with new challenges they can apply themselves to. If you start with small challenges then your child will be accomplishing things which will give them confidence in their own abilities. If you increase their responsibility they will be forced to problem solve and become more successful and confident. It is also important that you don’t fix all of your child’s problems for them, whilst they’re going to need your advice and parental wisdom but too much help will prevent them from developing their own skills.

Don’t criticize them

This is the most important thing. Feedback for a child is great to help them learn but never criticize your child as this will almost definitely cause them to feel bad about themselves. This will make them more shy and nervous and likely make them lose any confidence they’ve been building.