In today?s testing times, confidence is perhaps one of the greatest gifts that parents could give to their child. The children who persevere in the face of challenges and love to try out new things, turn out to be confident in the outcome of their decisions. And independence is a quality that can be nurtured from a very early age.

Psychologists say that a child who lacks in confidence will be reluctant to try out new challenging things in life. And this setback could hold them back in life in having a successful career.

Parents play a very important role in encouraging and supporting children as they attempt to tackle difficult tasks. Here are some encouraging tips to impart independence and confidence in children.

1. Appreciate Their Efforts

When children are growing up, their journey is more important in their development than their destination. Next time, if a child kicks the winning goal for his team or accidentally kicks it out of bounds, just applaud their effort. They should never have a feeling of embarrassment for trying yet not succeeding. To consistently try hard, helps boost their confidence level in the long run, rather than just doing well occasionally.

2. Inspire To Practice

Inspiring and encouraging children to practice whatever they are interested in, without putting an extra amount of pressure on them will work in their favour. When there are efforts put into practice with the confident expectation, then improvement will follow suit.

3. Let Them Self-Help

When the parents tend to do all the hard work for the children, then they will never develop the independent abilities and the confidence to figure out and solve the problems on their own. Parental help can sometimes prevent the confidence of the child that is derived from self-help and figuring out on their own. It is no harm if the child gets a few B?s and C?s rather than A?s, as far as they are learning how to solve the problems and able to do the work.

4. Freedom From Unrealistic Standards

Expecting a child to act like an adult is a completely wrong notion. When the child feels that doing things only as well as parents is deemed good, then that unrealistic standard discourages their efforts. In other words, straining to meet advanced age expectations can in fact reduce the confidence level of the child.

5. Cheer Their Curiosity

Many a time, a child?s endless flurry of questions can be tiresome for parents, but it is the responsibility of parents that it is encouraged. When the child asks questions, it is a helpful exercise for their development. In the school, those who have already been encouraged with their curious questions, have a definite edge over the rest of their classmates. As they have a practice of taking in information from their parents, likewise that translates to taking in information from teachers as well. With their curiosity, they understand how to learn better and faster.

6. Don?t Criticise Their Performance

Nothing discourages a child more than getting criticised for their efforts by parents. It is ok to give them useful feedback and suggestions, but never directly tell them that they did a bad job. If the child is scared to fail worrying about the parent?s anger or disappointment, then be rest assured, they will never try new things. In many cases, parental criticism reduces the child?s self-valuing and motivation.

7. Treat Mistake As Opportunity

Learning from mistakes builds confidence in the child. But this only happens when parents treat their mistakes as an opportunity to learn and grow. There is no need to be over-protective for the child. Give them the liberty to mess up every now and then, and eventually, make them understand how they can approach the task in a better way next time.

8. Give Them Exposure

Parents have a responsibility to increase life exposures and experiences in the child so that they develop confidence in coping with a larger world. Exposing children to new things teaches them to conquer it, no matter how difficult and different it seems to them.

9. Share How You Did It

Until the child is a teenager, parents are their real heroes. Hence, it is the moral responsibility of the parents to share their knowledge with them. Parents need to teach them how to think, act, and speak in various situations. The parents need to set a good example and be a good role model for the child. Watching them succeed will also help children to be more confident and believe that they can do the same.

10. Cheer Them In Adversity

Life is not always fair, it is hard, and children will have to learn that at some point in time in their life. Whenever the child encounters hardship, parents should rather cheer them up and make them understand how facing these challenges will increase their resilience. It is important to share with children that life is not easy, and every road to success is filled with its setbacks.

11. Applaud Their Courage

Whether the child is trying out for a new sport or going on the first roller coaster ride, parents should praise their courage for trying out new things. Saying something as simple as, ?you are pretty brave to have tried this out?, can uplift the spirit of the child. Always remember, comfort comes from sticking to the familiar things, but courage is required to go for the new and different.

12. Make Them Face Real World

Parents should not allow children to hide behind the computer screen. Instead, try and encourage them to get engaged with real people in the real world. Parents should understand that confidence in the virtual world is not that effective as that of real-world confidence.

These tips will surely help the parents raise a more confident child!

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In today?s testing times, confidence is perhaps one of the greatest gifts that parents could give to their child. The children who persevere in the face of challenges and love to try out new things, turn out to be confident in the outcome of their decisions. And independence is a quality that can be nurtured from a very early age.

Psychologists say that a child who lacks in confidence will be reluctant to try out new challenging things in life. And this setback could hold them back in life in having a successful career.

Parents play a very important role in encouraging and supporting children as they attempt to tackle difficult tasks. Here are some encouraging tips to impart independence and confidence in children.

1. Appreciate Their Efforts

When children are growing up, their journey is more important in their development than their destination. Next time, if a child kicks the winning goal for his team or accidentally kicks it out of bounds, just applaud their effort. They should never have a feeling of embarrassment for trying yet not succeeding. To consistently try hard, helps boost their confidence level in the long run, rather than just doing well occasionally.

2. Inspire To Practice

Inspiring and encouraging children to practice whatever they are interested in, without putting an extra amount of pressure on them will work in their favour. When there are efforts put into practice with the confident expectation, then improvement will follow suit.

3. Let Them Self-Help

When the parents tend to do all the hard work for the children, then they will never develop the independent abilities and the confidence to figure out and solve the problems on their own. Parental help can sometimes prevent the confidence of the child that is derived from self-help and figuring out on their own. It is no harm if the child gets a few B?s and C?s rather than A?s, as far as they are learning how to solve the problems and able to do the work.

4. Freedom From Unrealistic Standards

Expecting a child to act like an adult is a completely wrong notion. When the child feels that doing things only as well as parents is deemed good, then that unrealistic standard discourages their efforts. In other words, straining to meet advanced age expectations can in fact reduce the confidence level of the child.

5. Cheer Their Curiosity

Many a time, a child?s endless flurry of questions can be tiresome for parents, but it is the responsibility of parents that it is encouraged. When the child asks questions, it is a helpful exercise for their development. In the school, those who have already been encouraged with their curious questions, have a definite edge over the rest of their classmates. As they have a practice of taking in information from their parents, likewise that translates to taking in information from teachers as well. With their curiosity, they understand how to learn better and faster.

6. Don?t Criticise Their Performance

Nothing discourages a child more than getting criticised for their efforts by parents. It is ok to give them useful feedback and suggestions, but never directly tell them that they did a bad job. If the child is scared to fail worrying about the parent?s anger or disappointment, then be rest assured, they will never try new things. In many cases, parental criticism reduces the child?s self-valuing and motivation.

7. Treat Mistake As Opportunity

Learning from mistakes builds confidence in the child. But this only happens when parents treat their mistakes as an opportunity to learn and grow. There is no need to be over-protective for the child. Give them the liberty to mess up every now and then, and eventually, make them understand how they can approach the task in a better way next time.

8. Give Them Exposure

Parents have a responsibility to increase life exposures and experiences in the child so that they develop confidence in coping with a larger world. Exposing children to new things teaches them to conquer it, no matter how difficult and different it seems to them.

9. Share How You Did It

Until the child is a teenager, parents are their real heroes. Hence, it is the moral responsibility of the parents to share their knowledge with them. Parents need to teach them how to think, act, and speak in various situations. The parents need to set a good example and be a good role model for the child. Watching them succeed will also help children to be more confident and believe that they can do the same.

10. Cheer Them In Adversity

Life is not always fair, it is hard, and children will have to learn that at some point in time in their life. Whenever the child encounters hardship, parents should rather cheer them up and make them understand how facing these challenges will increase their resilience. It is important to share with children that life is not easy, and every road to success is filled with its setbacks.

11. Applaud Their Courage

Whether the child is trying out for a new sport or going on the first roller coaster ride, parents should praise their courage for trying out new things. Saying something as simple as, ?you are pretty brave to have tried this out?, can uplift the spirit of the child. Always remember, comfort comes from sticking to the familiar things, but courage is required to go for the new and different.

12. Make Them Face Real World

Parents should not allow children to hide behind the computer screen. Instead, try and encourage them to get engaged with real people in the real world. Parents should understand that confidence in the virtual world is not that effective as that of real-world confidence.

These tips will surely help the parents raise a more confident child!

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