Hone The Skill
Study your child carefully. Observe her studies and spontaneous leisure activities.
There would be one or two fields that she enjoys. Say, you may find from scribbling
that she has the makings of a skilled artist or is good at picking up new words.
Put a little extra effort to develop that particular talent. Since it is the subject
of interest, she’ll enjoy spending more time doing it. Being better than her a unique
thrust to her behavior. After all, by definition, confidence is the belief in one’s
own ability.
Praise
Nothing beats the feel-good quality of wholesome appreciation. Highlights her achievements
in front of your friends. If she has accomplished something, be it ever so little
as serving water to the guests, put in a few nice words. “My darling daughter dances
beautifully”-say this and see the glow of pleasure on Ginny’s face and the extra
pep in her step. Always encourage any step taken by her own. You can have credit
system, like a star and points for each achievement. However, do not praise falsely.
Let her lift herself up to a fair standard before attaching merit or your praise
will lose its value. Kids are very quick to discern a fake.
No Negativity
Even if the kid is not doing well, avoid giving a harsh dressing down. Sarcasm and
belittling words are an absolute no-no, especially in public. Nothing shrivels up
the flowering bud of confidence than that. Such drawbacks should be explained one-on-one
quietly. If you just shout, there would be no improvement in your little one. Instead,
she will lose whatever confidence was present and perform worse. “Ami is absolutely
useless at eating by herself”-make a few such remarks to anybody and you ensure
that Ami remains useless. Encourage her to interact with people. Kids usually lack
the boldness to go up to a stranger. Friendship and fraternising should be encouraged.
Let them visit cousins and relations and have their friends over now and then. Madhu,
new to school, remained subdued and quiet. Her mother encouraged him to find out
the name of just one kid in his class every day. This worked and slowly Madhu opened
up.