Building Confidence in Children [Productivity @ Home]
Every Tuesday, I share my thoughts on Family Life.
Thank you to John Bishop of Teaching Moments for sharing today’s posting. I always find John’s recommendations to be so helpful, not only for children but also for myself. My father frequently implemented this philosophy with us and I find myself subconsciously doing this with my own boys.
How do you build your child’s self-esteem? I’ve used this idea with my grandson and hope it will help you.
I tell him “Always leave on a good note.â€
The easiest way to show you how we use it might be a sports analogy,
but the concept can be used any time you want to help your child
succeed.
If my grandson Kyle and I have been shooting baskets and it’s time
to leave, I will say, “One more basket and then we have to go.†Then I
add, “Always leave on a good note.†He knows we will stay until he
makes that last all-important basket. Why is that last shot so
important? Because it is the one he will remember.
He knows that by making the last shot he has been successful on the
basketball court and that he has “left it on a good note.†Kyle loves
it. He leaves the basketball court as a successful shot maker. That
success is his memory of shooting baskets with his grandfather.
We use that same confidence building concept in other areas.
For example, if he is having problems with a particular night’s math
homework, we will “always leave it on a good note.†In this case, after
he has successfully completed one of the math problems we might stop
for a 5 to 10 minute break. I’ll let him do something else for the
short break and then we will finish the night’s math homework. It is
amazing how that successful completion of a math problem and a short
break refocuses his attitude for the balance of the homework
assignment.
Try the “always leave on a good note†concept. Before long your
children will be using the expression themselves, and without fully
understanding what is happening, they will be building on their
personal success, one successfully completed event after another.
Ideas for Implementation:
1. It is vitally important to be patient with your child. In
the beginning it took Kyle 5 minutes to make that last basket, but he
never felt rushed.
2. Use the “Always leave it on a good note†statement often, so your child starts to think in those terms.
3. Congratulate your child on a job well done.
Recommended Resource:
Goal Setting for Students by John Bishop
Original post here: Lisa M. Hendey
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