There have been many studies and quotes from people that warn against damaging a child’s self-esteem. While we must not go to the extreme of hiding our children from failure, we must also be careful about destroying self-esteem.
Self-esteem is a very important aspect to learning. In order to learn, a child must be willing to take risks and experience failure. The learning process deals much with trial and error. It is thought that persons who are considered to be creative have taken risks on a larger scale and often in front of others.
To help build your child’s self-esteem, give him or her attention (lots of it). By attention, I do not mean being at his or her beck and call. However it is important to stop and listen to your child. Give him or her eye contact when talking. Allow him or her to have your undivided attention and do not always work on another task during your interactions with one another. Let your child know that he or she has importance in the world.
When your child learns a new task, praise him or her no matter how small the task may seem to you. When your child struggles, help your child succeed. Do not take over and complete the task yourself. Giving your child the advice to succeed is much better than taking over.
Let your know that it is important to be an individual and that it is not necessary to take on or conform to the opinions of others. Do not make failures a major issue. Even as a small toddler children begin to form their self-esteem based on your reaction to their failures. Try giving your child encouragement and other alternatives when he or she fails.