After taking my time to go through elejo023 post about taking the pressure off the kids, allowing them to play, then, I decided to come up with this post also.

Anyone who has kids knows that they
are both a magical blessing and a
constant source of stress. Raising
children requires a lot of work—just
feeding, cleaning and dressing them
takes up a good chunk of a parent’s
time, and that’s before we even begin
to teach them about the world. It is
important to pass on good values to our
little ones, but even more importantly,
we want them to feel confident in their
abilities and to have a realistic, yet
positive self-image. If you want to help
your child build self-esteem, try out
some of these strategies.


1.Talk to your child and find out if there
are any problems.

Effective communication is essential for
building healthy and lasting
relationships. Being a child is exiting,
confusing and even scary at times, so
your child may have a lot of questions
about the world as well as fears and
doubts. Other kids might be mean to
your child, the child may feel
inadequate in certain ways, and he or
she may feel insecure about their body
or intimidated by social interactions. It
is important to establish trust and let
the child tell you why it may feel unsure
of itself, so you can work together on
finding a solution.

2.Help your child find an activity he or
she feels passionate about.

Some people are born with an
incredible voice; some have a good ear
for music; others have the bone
structure and musculature that can
make them a great athlete; and some
have a vast imagination and a flare for
story-telling. Find out what your child’s
natural talents are and help them
engage in activities they find the most
fun.

3.Be forgiving to others and show your
child that compassion is a great virtue.

Everyone makes mistakes; it’s a part of
maturing and a necessary step in
attaining wisdom. By practicing
forgiveness, you let your child now that,
although what they did was wrong for a
number of reasons, it’s quite alright to
make a mistake every now and then.

4.Teach your child to focus on building
meaningful relationships, look for
happiness in small things and strive for
success.

Many people attain a certain level of
wealth, power and skill, yet they never
conquer their fears and remain unsure
of themselves. Teach your child about
the value of true friendship and how
others can help make you stronger.
Teach them to turn to the hundreds of
positive little things in life when looking
for happiness and to be ambitious and
persistent.
Failure is just an opportunity to come
back even stronger and with good
friends there to back you up, even your
darkest moments can seem a bit
brighter. There is no better way to help
your child build high self-esteem than to
show them the value of having others
who believe in you.

5.Teach children to set attainable goals.

Wanting to be the first man on Mars, a
world famous ballerina or a movie star
are very ambitious goals and show just
how creative your child can be, but they
may be unattainable. It’s not a good
idea to shower your child with praise all
the time and give them an unrealistic
image of themselves and their abilities.
Let them give anything a shot, but if
they clearly aren’t meant to be a singer,
don’t hesitate to tell them that. Be
easy on them and offer alternatives.
Help them formulate some short-term
goals that are easily attainable with
some hard work and have these smaller
goals build up to something more long-
term but still within reach.


6.Teach your child how to be organized
and how to study for best results.

Many people believe that studying is all
about sitting down and staring at a book
for hours. This can lead to a child feeling
frustrated and believing that he or she
isn’t smart enough to learn a subject.
Being organized is a skill that can be
learned. A child needs a good balance
between studying, doing their chores
and having fun—a balance that can only
be achieved by organizing their time
effectively. Some subjects can be more
difficult for a child than others and they
may have problems when they feel they
are racing against a clock. Tests in
particular can be stressful and take all
the fun out of learning.

7.Enroll your child in classes that focus
on physical activity.
A healthy mind in a healthy body, as the
old saying goes. Getting a good deal of
physical exercise during the day is not
only beneficial to your child’s health,
but can also help them develop strong
and agile body that they can be proud
of.
Looking good and feeling good will help
your child build self-esteem, while
playing a sport will enable them to be
around like-minded kids and improve
their social skills.

8.Play with your child whenever you
get the chance.
Some emotional and physical contact
with others on a daily basis is very
important for a child. Devote some time
to listening to their stories, engage in
some creative activities and teach them
some valuable skills in the process.
Anything can be made into a game, so
you have plenty of opportunity to get
your child used to teamwork, problem
solving and expressing themselves
freely.

9.Become a good role-model by
practicing what you preach•
Kids simply soak up information from
their immediate surroundings and they
will turn to you as their main source of
information on acceptable behavior.
Monkey see, monkey do is their main
strategy. Be sure that you show your
child how one should behave through
actions; don’t just tell them what they
should do and then do the very things
you instructed them not to do.
If your child sees that their parents
aren’t afraid to express themselves,
that they try to be good to others and
are very social and open with other
people, the child will emulate this
confident behavior in their lives.

10.Teach your child about
responsibilities and the value of hard
work.

A child shouldn’t be held to the same
high standards as adults, but they
should understand that their actions
affect others and that there are people
who count on them. If the child
understands why it’s necessary for them
to do their chores and that it takes hard
work to earn a living, he or she will have
a different outlook on life. Children are
often happy to help out their parents
and feel proud when they contribute.
Older kids can look after smaller kids
during the day, a child can help their
parents in the kitchen, they can help
with home repairs (even if it just means
handing tools to dad), and they can
clean the house and help organize
events.

Note: When it comes to helping your
kids build self-esteem, it’s important to
remember to communicate, spend
some time with your child and allow
them to make their own choices, while
at the same time nudging them in the
right direction.


special recognition to argon500 the original owner of this posts bfr the tsunami!