Confidence is a great gift that a parent can give to their child. For children who struggle to open up or express themselves in front of people or are shy, it can be difficult for them to try new or challenging things because they are scared of failing or disappointing others. 

This fear of failing can hold them back later in their lives and prevent them from leading successful lives. 

According to a leading psychologist, “the enemies of confidence are discouragement and fear.” So being a parent or an educator, it becomes the job of the elder to encourage and support the child as they attempt to tackle difficult tasks. 

Here are twelve tips for raising a confident child.

 

• Show appreciation for them—no matter win or lose.

 

When growing up, our journey is more important than the destination. In simple words, whether your child makes a winning goal or unintentionally kicks the ball out of the court, applaud them, and show appreciation for their efforts. Remember, making them feel embarrassed is only going to turn the wagon the wrong way. It is better to be confident to make a mistake than intermittently doing it right. 

 

• Encourage them to become better through practice.

 

Practice makes perfect. Nevertheless, putting too much pressure on them to master an ability is not the right way to go. Instead, encourage them to practice when and what they are interested in doing. For example, if your child is interested in arts instead of sports, don’t make them go for sports just for the sake of being athletic. Make them practice the art and negotiate with them to practice sports. Practice need efforts and confidence in the expectation that improvement will follow. 

READ ALSO: For Families: 7 Tips For Raising Caring Kids

 

• Let them figure out their problems for themselves.

 

If you solve all the problems for your child, they may never develop the confidence to be able to accept a challenge and figure out to overcome it in life. Self-help is one way to give your child an opportunity to decide for themselves. In simpler words, let your child have some B’s and C’s instead of all A’s so they can learn their problem and work hard to solve their problem on their own. 

 

• Let them be a child.

 

Children are naïve. Never expect them to be rational or act like adults. When a child feels that being good and perfect is the only good thing, it can discourage them and the efforts they make to be better than themselves. Striving to meet the expectation from a young age can reduce confidence rather than making them perfect. 

 

• Encourage curiosity

 

Sometimes a child’s question can put you in a position where you don’t have an answer. Chances are you become frustrated by them or tired of answering their endless stream of questions. Although it can be tiresome, this habit of asking questions must always be encouraged. 

Asking questions is a motivating exercise for a child’s development. It makes them realize that there are many things that they do not know. This habit is especially helpful in school. It adds an edge over the rest of their classmates because they have practice taking information from their parents. It helps in translating the information from the teachers and can learn faster and better.

 

• Giving them challenges can build their cognitive skills.

 

Motivating your child and showing them that they can overcome any challenge and accomplish goals to reach significant accomplishments can be a confidence booster. For instance, if your child is afraid of riding a bike without training wheels, give them a challenge and motivate confidence in them that they can accomplish a goal as simple as riding a bicycle without training wheels. 

 

• Do not criticize their performance.

 

It is a demotivating activity giving your child a feel like you don’t care. Useful facts and suggestions are fine, but never tell them that they are doing something bad. If your kid is fearful of failing, it might be because they think you’d be angry or disappointed. Furthermore, they will be scared of trying new things. 

 

• Treat mistakes as building blocks for them.

 

Learning from mistakes helps in building confidence. However, this only depends on when the parents treat an error as an opportunity to learn. A child only learns to get up and walk by falling several times. Each fall gives them the confidence to maintain their balance to walk. 

Don’t be too overprotective of your child. Give them room to mess up and learn to clean after themselves. Show them the confidence that they can be better at doing a job. 

 

• Celebrate their excitement for learning

 

Developing the cognitive skills of a child is of importance. Give them the opportunity to learn from inspiring books for kids and ask them questions which can make them understand the world they live in. reading from an early age is highly encouraging and helps them in every stage of their lives. 

 

• Do not allow them to spend more time on the internet.

 

More screen time can break their confidence in being in front of the people. Make sure to encourage them to engage with more people in the real world. Remember, confidence in the real world is not the same as confidence in the virtual world. However, engaging with real people can boost their confidence. 

 

• Open the doors to a new experience.

 

Increasing their exposure in life can develop the exposure and experience of a child. It gives them the confidence to cope with the world. Exposing children to new experiences gives them the opportunity to overcome new challenges, which at first may seem scary, but gives them the confidence that nothing is impossible.

 

• Praise them when they deal with adversity.

 

Life is full of hardships, and the road to success is filled with setbacks. It is essential to encourage your child to overcome hardships by pointing out how to endure the challenges to increase resilience. Life is never fair, and a child needs to learn that at some point.

Author Bio: Susan Penson is an amazing writer working at Eden-Bancrofts. She is highly appreciated for her interesting and creative stories having an imaginative side to it. She is a graduate of the University of Queens and holds a degree in Literature. A passionate writer and a literary critic are the two words that can describe Diamond.