As we know from infancy till adulthood children grow and develop rapidly. Their brains are developing in structure and capacity in profound and complex ways. Parents strive to encourage their children to become capable to achieve their developmental tasks particularly at young ages.
However, as they encounter the outside world they find that what they do each day is regularly assessed by teachers, peers, coaches and others. Often these evaluations can diminish their confidence and create a great deal of insecurity. It can be a big shock to the child to find out that the outside world is not as supportive as parents are at home. Even as adults many of us lack the confidence we are capable of in order to achieve our goals for success in life.
It is good to be reminded of the principles and skills that it takes as parents to help our kids develop a strong sense of self and confidence that is essential to a life of accomplishment and emotional health. Sometimes our confidence as parents can be shaken when our kids struggle to achieve certain life tasks.
The Child Mind Institute has published 12 tips for raising confident kids. Here is a quote from this article:
As children get older, that confidence can be as important as the skills themselves. To thrive, kids need to trust in their own capabilities while, at the same time, knowing that they can handle it if they aren’t successful at something. It’s by experiencing mastery and rebounding from failure that they develop healthy self-confidence.
Here is the link to the 12 tips that are suggested by the Child Mind Institute:
As parents and caregivers strive to develop emotionally and relationally health in their children it is helpful to have some guidelines and practices like these 12 tips to give us confidence in how we are raising our children. Hopefully these tips can encourage those of you who have children in your care.
Gerry Vassar
President/CEO
