Having children with high self-confidence is a source of pride for parents. A child with high self-confidence indicates that he is confident in his abilities.
Growing self-confidence in children can be done anytime and anywhere because meaningful lessons are not limited by space and time. The most important thing is that parents always support their children to do positive things.
Confident children will find it easier to blend in with the environment around them. Confidence in children is also able to improve their quality. Therefore, support from the people around him is also needed to increase his self-confidence.
On Friday (08/26/2022) through live streaming broadcast on TikTok, Thevolume.net together with Christine Anggraini, M.Psi., an adult clinical psychologist, discussed effective ways to build children’s self-confidence.
Building a child’s self-confidence is not an easy matter. But it can be practiced slowly until the child gets used to it.
Here Thevolume.net summarizes information on how to build the most effective children’s self-confidence.
Listen, Mom!
Form a child’s trust in parents
Before forming a child’s self-confidence, the first thing parents must do is form a child’s confidence in their parents. Reassure your child that their parents can be trusted.
If the child already believes in his parents, then he will follow what his parents ordered without hesitation. Therefore, parental support plays a very important role in shaping children’s self-confidence.
For example, a child who is learning to ride a bicycle, will not be afraid to fall as long as there are parents beside him who are ready to help and help.
Don’t forget to give positive affirmations to your child such as, “It’s okay, let’s try again!”, “Relax, Mom is here.”
Be careful labeling shame to children
As a parent, you need to be careful about labeling your child as shameful. Shame with shyness is different things.
Children who tend to stay quiet in new places do not mean he is shy. Rather, he is observing and adapting to a new environment and place.
An angry child does not mean he is grumpy. Likewise with shy children. The child is shy under certain conditions, but it does not mean he is shy. If the child is familiar with his environment, he will show himself more boldly.
Parents may criticize their child’s behavior in a good way, for example by asking “Why did you lack courage in that place?”, “What scares you?”.
Parents, avoid rushing to give the child a shy label, which makes him insecure.
Adjust activities that can train your little one’s confidence according to their age
If your child is 0-1 years old, let him explore in his way. For example rolling around in bed, biting objects around him, and so on.
However, this still needs supervision from adults, so that children’s exploration activities remain safe for them.
By allowing your little one to explore, he will be directly connected to his environment through the five senses.
For children aged two years and over who can already understand their environment, Mom can train their self-confidence by giving appreciation. For example, “thank you for helping Mom”, “You are great”, and “Be careful, okay”.
According to Christine, who is a psychologist, if your child is appreciated by his parents, he will feel that he achieved something that makes him feel more confident to do other things.
Introduce your little one to the environment slowly, no need to rush
If your little one is still shy when meeting other people, Mom can introduce him to his siblings, and cousins first.
If he has reached school age, then Little One is introduced to his peers, teachers, and people around him.
Humans are social creatures who need connections with other people. The connection of the child must be preceded by the connection with the parents first.
Over time, your little one will get used to the environment around him and meet new people.
Find out your little one’s comfort zone
Each child’s comfort zone can be different. Some children are more comfortable mingling with adults but find it difficult to get along with peers or vice versa.
Mom needs to know the cause, and why your little one is more comfortable with certain people.
Also, pay attention to the length of your little one’s screen time with gadgets every day. Because some children are more comfortable alone with their gadgets, compared to playing with friends their age.
So it can be concluded that the child’s lack of confidence in socializing can be caused by many things, one of which is comfort.
Things that cause your little one to have low self-confidence
Several factors cause your child to lack confidence, which is related to the perception of failure. Here are some of the contributing factors:
1. Parental demands
Some parents are sometimes too demanding of their children to succeed but do not accompany their children when they face failure. This can make your little one depressed and less confident to go far.
2. Lack of appreciation from parents
Some parents consider the success of their children to be their obligation, so there is no need to give appreciation in the form of congratulations or anything else. Lack of appreciation can make a child feel discouraged and feel that what he is doing is just a waste.
3. Bad experiences in the past
Bad experiences in the past, should be used as lessons for tomorrow. However, it is not uncommon for experiences to traumatize someone to discourage them from trying new things again.
4. Lack of communication between parents and children
Parents are the home for their children. When a child faces failure, he will look to his parents as a place to complain.
However, if the child’s communication with the parents does not go well, the child seems to have lost his way and does not know what to do. Therefore, communication between children and parents must be maintained properly.
That’s it Mom, the most effective way to build a child’s self-confidence. Parents are the home for their children. Therefore, give your little one the spirit to move forward, and don’t forget to appreciate him.
