How to promote a good child self-esteem in children? 5 tips
Tips and recommendations to boost children's self-esteem, easy to apply in parenting.
Children's self-esteem is one of the most important psychological aspects to promote the correct psychological development of a child. Depending on whether it is too low or not, he/she will be able to propose challenges that will allow him/her to take advantage of his/her potential, make new friends easily, take better care of him/herself, etc.
Moreover, self-esteem is a modifiable aspect depending on the emotional management strategies applied on a daily basis, and also depending on the type of experiences to which one is exposed. For better and for worse, this implies that what we do influences how we value ourselves, and this also applies to childhood.. Let's see how to take advantage of this when raising and educating the little ones.
Tips to promote a good level of child self-esteem.
Each child deserves a personalized treatment and adapted to their needs, but it is also true that there are some strategies and techniques that in most cases are helpful to encourage them to have a good self-esteem. Below you will find several tips that can guide you in this aspect.
1. Help him to recognize his emotions
Knowing how to correctly identify one's own emotions and feelings is very important to maintain a good self-esteem. to maintain good self-esteem, especially during childhood, since in this phase of life the lack of experience can lead to very significant mistakes.
For example, many children can confuse anxiety with feelings of inferiority, or fear with guilt.
In this sense, it is good to have talks with them from time to time so that they can express what they feel; from this, they can be given the possibility to reflect by comparing these emotional states with each other: both in their subjective aspect and in the type of actions they feel like doing when they experience these psychological phenomena.
2. Teach them to improve themselves by comparing themselves with their past achievements, not with others.
To enhance their psychological development, it is important that the main incentives and sources of motivation have to do with self-improvement, not with equaling or surpassing others.not about matching or surpassing others in all aspects of life. In this way, the reference of their progress will be much clearer at all times and will not depend on subjective appraisals prone to be affected by anxiety and insecurities.
For example, a child who looks at his present and past academic results will have a much more solid notion of his progress than a child who always looks at the grade of others, because he will always have the option of feeling bad for not having surpassed someone at the level of his class, of his course, of his district...
3. Suggest projects
It's good to give him a taste of hobbies and tasks that provide satisfying experiences and give them the opportunity to learn.. For example: learning to play a simple instrument, to do handicrafts, to practice a sport... As long as he is interested and it is not an imposition, this will allow him to test his learning capacity.
However, we must not forget that children cannot limit themselves to being constant machines of formal learning and training: also need to have their "impromptu" leisure hours to rest and socialize in a relaxed context. in a relaxed context.
4. Recognize their progress
It may seem obvious, but in practice, there are many parents who put much more emphasis on reprimands and punishments than on praise when their children do well. Moreover, This should be done not only by directing praise at the child, but also when talking to others in the child's presence..
5. Encourage self-care habits
Good hygiene and a healthy lifestyle (within their possibilities and level of physical development) is very important so that their self-image does not suffer. For example, something as simple as feeling itchy on a regular basis because they have not showered for too long has a significant effect on self-esteem, and the same goes for lack of sleep. The latter, in addition, has a very detrimental effect on mental health in general, which facilitates the appearance not only of low self-esteem, but also anxiety, problems concentrating, and more psychological alterations.
(Updated at Apr 13 / 2024)