Foster self-confidence

Show your child clearly and time and again the special abilities and strengths it has. For example, if your child is good in drawing or very musical, praise it explicitly and gladly also in the presence of others. Your child will thus learn, over time, where it is good and what it might possibly even do better than other children.

If the little ones want to try out something new, you should absolutely support this. Say for example: "You can do anything" or: "Yes, dare do it!" This will foster its self-confidence and it will be indicated to your child that you believe it is capable of doing what it wants. Also important: If something does not work out at the first try, you should let your child know that failures are not any disaster and that quite a few things require practice beforehand.

Whenever your child evidently makes endeavours and commits itself, do praise it for that! The attempt is also worthy of recognition even if, in the end, a perfect result was not achieved. Use the most concrete wording for your praise. Instead of saying "That was great what you did!", use much more precise feedback in your statements, such as "Great that you concentrated so well on your assignment" or "How nice that you thought about setting the table!".

Show your child regularly that you love it just the way it is. This also includes listening to your child and showing an interest in its hobbies. In everyday life, this will often be lost; it might therefore be helpful to consciously take time for talks with your child. However, also pay attention to any signals from your child which indicate that it would need just now "an ear", i.e. attention, and your affection. Foster your child's talents and help it to make successful experiences.

If you must criticise something, always refer explicitly to the child's action and not to its person as a whole. In that case, always be concrete and solution-oriented. It is best to precisely name any failures and then put it in perspective. For example: "That wasn't so bad, but next time, we'll better do …“.