4 Tips to Inspire Confidence in Your Children
Remember the first time you tried to ride a bike? You probably didn’t feel very confident at first, but over time, you got better and faster. Finally, after much practice, you were able to make the streets your own. The key was practice. And like many things in life, practice makes perfect.
It’s a message that we’ve heard again and again in our lives. The road to becoming an expert in anything takes practice. But with practice, there will be times of struggle. And with struggle, confidence often takes a hit. As parents and mentors, it’s our job to help our kids build confidence so they can face struggles and grow. Here are 4 tips that might make this job a little easier.
Tip 1: Advocate the Struggle
As a parent (or an uncle, aunt, or grandparent), we need to lead by example more than anything. If our kids see us giving up when faced with adversity, they might be more inclined to do the same when facing their own challenges. Try to create an environment where your kids know and understand the relationship between practice, confidence and success. Your kids might look up to you like a super-hero, but you can always find ways to let them know that with practice and hard-work, they can become a super-hero one day too!
Tip 2: Expand Responsibilities
Part of building confidence is mastering the basics. As your kids get older, always be aware of their expanding world. It starts simple – first, they learn to tie their shoes. But even after your child can dress themselves, try to continue evolving their responsibilities. Build this into a routine by planning for the tasks that need to be completed on time, consistently, and don’t allow distractions to get in the way.
Tip 3: Set Goals and Offer Rewards
For every series of tasks completed as part of your child’s routine, offer them a reward – perhaps a tasty treat or a trip to the movie theatre! Of course, as your child grows, adjust the rewards as needed. A big reward shouldn’t be given for a minor victory – we want to reward and encourage, not spoil our kids! Keep your children on their toes, though. If they begin to expect rewards every time they do something, they may lack motivation when rewards aren’t on the table.
Tip 4: Evaluate the Impact
Offer your child the opportunity to see results by setting up a way to measure how they are progressing. Certainly, report cards at school offer this opportunity but you can also implement mini tests at home so they can see their progress in real-time after they study or complete their homework. By having them notice the progress, this will build their confidence even further.
When you take the right approach, confidence can quickly grow. It’s about the journey, not the destination, and establishing a routine is the road map to confidence in many situations. It can be difficult to figure out the formula at first, but at Kumon, we have a proven framework to help establish an academic routine for any child.
Self-learning and figuring out how to learn is really just like riding a bike. You need to develop a routine and practice, and before you know it, the training wheels are off and you can’t believe how easy you’re soaring. Children have to develop a consistent thought pattern which teaches them how to learn and absorb information.
Through a combination of regular classroom sessions and manageable home assignments, Kumon’s self-learning method allows students to build confidence in and outside the classroom, delivering results beyond their grade level.
Trust us, it’s as easy as riding a bike! Have you got any confidence boosting tips that you’ve tried with your kids? Let us know in the comments section.
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