Helping Your Child with their Self Esteem

Self-esteem is how important your child feels, how much confidence they have in their own abilities and how much they value themselves and their own opinions.

Children with positive self-esteem are able to recognise their own capabilities and value their strengths. The more a child’s self-esteem grows, the more competent they feel when coping with life’s challenges.

Here is some advice from Manor Lodge School for parents who wish to help their children develop their self-esteem…

• You can help your child develop positive self-esteem by spending time with them, talking to them about their day and praising their efforts.

• Give children responsibility for jobs around the house such as helping with the recycling, setting the table for dinner or feeding a pet. This will increase their feelings of competency and develop their problem-solving skills.

• Try not to do everything for your child. Sometimes it is better to hold back and let children work things out for themselves. For example, it may be quicker to dress your child for school, but by letting them get dressed by themselves you will be teaching them how to be more independent.

• Help your child to adopt a growth mindset. This method of positive thinking can support children through challenges and setbacks. Children with a growth mindset believe that their abilities can improve over time and acknowledge that mistakes can also be used as learning opportunities.

• Try to provide your child with choices. These choices can be pre-selected by you if too many options cause your child to feel confused. For example, when you need them to get dressed, but you know they will take a long time to choose an outfit, take out two or three options and ask your child to pick one. By offering your child choices, you can help them to feel empowered and improve their decision making skills.