Self-Esteem: The Key to Success
For children with learning disabilities, low self-esteem is a huge roadblock. It’s an issue that dominates much of our work here at the camp and it’s the focus of so many conversations Tom and I have with camper parents. We all witness the moments at school, among peers and at home when our child’s ego gets crushed. Our hearts sink. Building positive self-esteem is key to their success. A positive self-image and attitude is the best counter to the daily barrage of ego busters they’re facing.
As they mature they will get tougher skin and they will develop their own ways of coping and overcoming these moments. In the mean time, here are a few tried and true ways to help you build positive self-esteem in your child.
Building positive self-esteem must be a daily routine. After reading these tips, and using some of your favorite methods, make a checklist of what works best for you and commit to doing them every day.
Always - Be respectful and nurturing. Highlight the positive.
If they love it, make time for it every day. Let them have time to do the thing(s) they love. It could be a big thing or a little thing. It could be sports, art or music. What does your kid love to do?
Balance school work with pleasure. Let’s face it school work is not fun. There is so much pressure to keep up that we can get trapped into overemphasizing the school work. As Mary Poppins once said, “a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down,” Make sure your days are filled with equal parts of pleasurable activities and school work activities.
Try something new everyday. With 365 days in a year thinking up something new is a task in and of itself. So maybe it should be “try” to try something new everyday. There are lots of books available highlighting activities for kids, 101 Activities For Kids is one listed on Amazon’s Favorite Family Activity Books link.
Have a success every day. Succeeding at something new is a success. Success is powerful for mind and spirit. Plan ahead and anticipate your new successes. A success may come from the simple act of trying something new (above) or other activities you have in your daily schedule. Make sure to recognize the success and make sure celebrate the success with your child.
We have less control of events at school and away from home so family support plays a signifigant role in building self-esteem. Make sure all brothers and sisters, and other close family, are on your support team. When you adopt these simple, but essential steps, you’ll see a marked difference in short order.
- Ann & Tom
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