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The secrets to raising a Happy and Confident child
April 16, 2021
4 min
Education
Positive Parenting
Confidence is an essential trait that children should develop from a young age. After all, confident children are more motivated to try new things, face challenges and overcome their fears.
What are the keys to raising a confident child? Read on to discover five of our favourite tips.
#1 – Nurture your child to make decisions
Confident children are comfortable with making decisions, and that’s what makes them valued as an individual or in group settings.
To get started, give your child the autonomy to make small decisions, like what fruits they would like to eat after dinner, or what book they would like to read at bedtime. You can also extend this decision-making to bigger activities, for example, asking your child where they’d like to go for your family weekend outing. After your fun day out, you can affirm your child by saying you enjoyed the day.
When your child feels like their decisions are being heard, their confidence will soar – and this confidence in decision-making will be a valuable asset as they grow into their teenage years and adulthood.
#2 – Allow your child to solve problems
Problem-solving is another skill that helps children to develop a sense of confidence. As parents, it can be tempting to jump in and help our children to solve issues that they may be temporarily stumped by – but your child will gain so much more if they overcome the hurdle by themselves.
This doesn’t mean completely stepping aside and waiting to see if you child sinks or swims. If your child gets “stuck”, you can ask them questions to help them think about things from a different perspective. And when your child finally solves the problem and accomplishes what they set out to do, they’ll take pride in their achievement and develop the confidence to take on even bigger challenges which they have not tried before – like learning to ride a bicycle, choosing more challenging books, speaking up in an unfamiliar place and more!
#3 – Encourage your child to explore new things
When children learn new skills, they feel more confident of handling different situations. For example, a child with well-developed social skills will be confident when making friends, and children with excellent motor skills tend to be confident with sports and related activities.
By opening your child up to new experiences, they have more opportunities to pick up new skills and develop confidence in more areas of their life. In NTUC First Campus’ My First Skool’s learning environments, we do this through activities like role play, songs, games, and other activities that encourage children to discover their passions while learning important skills (and developing their confidence)!
#4 – Celebrate your child’s efforts
Parents almost always praise their children when their child accomplishes something, but do you also acknowledge your child’s efforts – whether or not they accomplish their desired outcome? It’s important to recognise that the effort your child puts in, is a part of their journey to success – so remember to show support for their effort and determination.
Even if they fail, but keep trying anyway, praise them for their resilience! Want a fun way to praise? Join My First Skool’s telegram channel to download adorable praise stickers from!
#5 – Help your child understand the value of making mistakes (and learning from them)
Making mistakes is a part of the learning process. What’s more, mistakes aren’t necessarily a bad thing – in fact, learning from mistakes is another way that children can develop confidence in their abilities. Encourage your child whenever they try something new, make mistakes, learn from the process and try again… until they succeed!
By helping your child realise that everyone makes mistakes, you’re taking away a common fear that many people have – the fear of failure – and replacing it with the excitement and confidence of accomplishing a task or goal.
We nurture happy and confident learners at NTUC First Campus' My First Skool
At NTUC First Campus’ My First Skool, our teachers guide and nurture confident children who exude an “I Can Do It!” attitude and love learning – whether it’s new skills or a new language. And we achieve this by instilling a genuine joy for learning in young minds through our fun and highly engaging curriculum, which takes place in our safe and interactive learning environments.
But don’t just take our word for it, take a virtual walkthrough of our centres and explore the thoughtfully designed, child-friendly and conducive environments that our children learn and grow in. To register your child for a joyful learning journey with us, sign up here!
