As parents, we all want our children to feel good about themselves - that is inherent.  Having good self-esteem is vital to kids achieving higher marks in school, staying away from drugs and alcohol, and leading an overall productive and healthy lifestyle.  How then do we help children develop high levels of good self-esteem?

*Accept your child for who they are.  Embrace the talents, interests and skills that they DO have, rather than focusing on things that they are not good at or do not enjoy.

*Listen to your child.  Do not always provide a quick solution to their problems.  They may not be searching for an answer, just someone to listen.  Let them work out small problems and situations on their own.

*Don’t use labels to describe your child, but rather their behavior.  Do not tell a child, “You are bad.”  Instead let them know that their behavior in a certain situation was unacceptable.

*Provide structure, reasonable discipline and limits.  These show children that their world has a pattern and routine and they allow children to feel some control over their situations.  Children that feel helpless are more dependent and less able to make good decisions in the absence of adults.

For some wonderful resources and educational activities to help promote good self-esteem in your children, you can visit the sites listed below.  They provide colorful and fun stories, worksheets and family activities that will help parents teach their kids about positive, happy feelings, believing in themselves, and ways to grow and help others build their own self-esteem.  They empower children to become their own biggest believers, and make learning about this sometimes difficult and confusing issue, fun.  I have had personal contact with both of the owners of these companies (Women!) and have found them both to be passionate about what they believe in and educated on the topic of children’s self-esteem and how to foster and develop it.

http://www.bingnote.com - INSPIRE CHILDREN TO BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES!

http://www.yeahyeahoutloud.com -Empowering kids to discover their inner “cheer”leader!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 5:03 pm and is filed under Kids, Notes from Lisa, Recommendationz, education, family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.