To build genuine self-esteem in children, it is essential for parents to model goal-setting, persistence, and resilience. Confidence is cultivated by encouraging a child’s intrinsic drive for self-mastery, allowing them to achieve success through their own efforts rather than for external rewards. It is also crucial to reframe failure as a valuable feedback opportunity for learning and growth. Fostering a deep passion or area of competence, such as becoming an expert on dinosaurs allows a child to develop an authentic sense of capability and self-worth, irrespective of academic or measured success.
Watch this video on Parent TV from Maggie Dent.
Key Takeaways:
- Model confidence by setting and achieving your own goals, demonstrating persistence and resilience.
- Reframe failure as a feedback opportunity for learning and growth, not as a negative outcome.
- Encourage self-mastery by allowing children to persist and achieve success on their own, rather than offering external rewards.
- Help children find an area of passion or ability where they can develop competence, which builds internal confidence.
- Foster a sense of achievement that comes from within, rather than from external validation.
Try it This Week:
- Set a small, achievable goal for your child and encourage them to persist until they achieve it.
- When your child faces a setback, guide them to see it as a learning opportunity and to think about what they could do differently next time.
- Identify and nurture a passion or interest your child has, helping them to become knowledgeable and competent in that area.
If you would like any further support, please feel free to contact the school counsellors Mrs Ebony Harmer or Mr Anthony Ryan by emailing counsellor@mueller.qld.edu.au.
