The importance of confidence in a child’s education must not be underestimated. In fact, confidence is one of the most important qualities for your child. It not only helps them perform well at school, it also enhances their ability to tackle challenges throughout their lives.
Children with positive self-esteem feel confident and capable. They are proud of what they can do and proud of their achievements, whilst also wanting to try their best. They value their abilities as well as themselves.
When children feel confident, safe and secure, they are more likely to succeed in school and achieve their personal goals. As confident children get older, they will be less intimidated and stressed out by challenges and be able to resist peer pressure. These children are also more likely to be able to stand up for themselves and ask for help when they need it. They feel safe to be vulnerable and risk temporary setbacks that inevitably come with learning new skills. Having positive self-image helps children feel happy and maintain personal relationships.
A young person’s self-confidence affects their educational and career goals. Studies show that self-esteem and resilience are crucial for preventing student dropout rates too. So as teachers we do all we can to ensure children maintain their love for learning as well as supporting them to achieve their goals and aspirations.
Since being confident is so important to your child’s education, this post will look at how you as parents can help instill and strengthen your child or young person’s self-esteem. Here at MWNS, we believe that enhancing our student’s confidence is essential to their success.
Developing positive self-esteem & confidence
Children develop positive self-esteem and confidence by working hard towards a goal and seeing their hard work pay off over and over again. Being able to accomplish something shows them they have what it takes to face new challenges. Their success allows them to feel good about themselves, and they learn to be pragmatic when dealing with their failures.
You can help them strengthen their self-esteem through:
- Recognising the effort they put in to challenging tasks
- Applauding the courage they showed in trying new things
- Encouraging them to try again when things don’t work the first time
- Encouraging them to develop connect with others IRL
When children do well at something, they can also share it with other people, such as their friends and the adults who care about them. Often, this includes their Maths and English tutors! Having positive reinforcement of their efforts makes them feel good. Over time, they can continue to build positive self-esteem and confidence in their own abilities.
When children have positive self-esteem they:
- Feel they have control over the events in their life
- Show resilience and feel pride in themselves, even when they make a mistake
- Understand they deserve respect
- Confidently work autonomously
- Learn to take responsibility for their actions
- Become comfortable in starting and forming relationships
- Start to gain confidence and courage in making good decisions, even when dealing with peer pressure.
Help your child build positive self-esteem & confidence
Building self-esteem and confidence is possible. Children and teenagers can learn to improve how they see and value themselves. It’s important to praise children in ways that build self-esteem and teach them to be proud of their accomplishments and efforts. Occasionally praising your child’s efforts is not the same as showering them with compliments for everything they do. Children are capable of distinguishing between when they’ve been successful and worked hard, and when they haven’t. That is why our primary and high school tutoring involves recognition of their hard work and resilience – because it helps build them into confident learners!
Friendships can also be a big part of building positive self-esteem. This doesn’t mean that children have to have heaps of friends or be popular. Simply having one friend who accepts you for who you are can make all the difference.
Help your children discover strengths to build on. Finding childrens’ strengths and identify what they enjoy doing will allow them to tap into joy and self-efficacy. As they face challenges, they can remember how it felt to feel accomplished and capable.
Key points
- Children who value themselves are more likely to ask for help when they need it
- Positive self-esteem gives children the resilience to face challenges
- Being supportive but realistic is essential in helping children build positive self-esteem and confidence.
Need some help building your child’s confidence?
Enrol with MWNS and let us help build your child into a confident learner, inside and outside our classrooms.