Tips On How To Help Your Child Develop A Positive Self-Esteem

Why Specific Praising Is The Route To Take

Specific praising - which is recommended by child psychologists as the right way to praise children - focuses on the details, the effort, and challenges the child had to overcome to achieve their goal and receive positive praises from their parent. Specific praising fills in the gaps for the child as to why they are receiving praise and how they can replicate it in the future. For instance, try saying, “I know you didn’t win this week, but you scored two more goals than last week because you practiced more this week!” rather than the global praise of “I know you didn’t win, but you’ll win next time.” Specific praising teaches a child that working hard, being responsible, and doing what is deemed ‘good’ is a great thing, and therefore they do not need others to know they’ve done an excellent job, as they can see it themselves. Compared to global praise, being specific also teaches children there is nothing wrong with failure, as failure is what teaches them about success - a fundamental skill they will need as an adult.

Next, let’s unearth the different ways to boost your child’s self-confidence!