Maria goes live every week, answering your questions, and today’s big question in the private Facebook Group, Empowering Kids With Character, was on boosting your child’s self-esteem. You can watch the 4 ways that Maria shared in the video here.
#1 – Give them responsibilities. Do you allow them to do things without you correcting? Maria allows them to put their clothes away – she folds the clothes and puts them into individual baskets, which then go into each child’s room. The children are then responsible for putting the clothes into their drawers. She admitted that the children’s drawers are atrocious and messy, and it drives her batty, but she doesn’t “fix” it. She is giving them responsibility and allowing them to do it to their standards. She did advise that there are times you will have to correct their “standards”, such as when they are taking the trash out and they drag the trash down the driveway, thus leaving a trail!
#2 – Help them discover what their qualities/strengths/talents are so they can value this. Help them see how they can use these talents and strengths to help others. Maria advised you can expose them to many different things to help them see what they enjoy/are good at. Take them to the zoo, museum/sporting events to discover what they like, whole-heartedly.
#3 – Help your children to set goals and take healthy risks. When goal setting, talk about what is an attainable goal. Try not to crush them! If they are really into gymnastics and they say their goal is to be in the Olympics (and they’re only 5) next year (and they’re only 5, having just started gymnastics 3 months ago), help them to realize that an attainable, healthy goal is to learn a back handspring this year. How can they achieve this goal? Talk to the coach about it and practice at home to strengthen their skill.
#4 – Give your children choices. Don’t always decide things for them. Offer them the choice of shoes to wear when leaving. Offer them the choice of what to wear for the day. This helps them to feel independent and proud of who they are!
Remember that Maria alternates these videos between her author page and the private Empowering Kids with Character page, which provides more ideas on the monthly theme and also support from fellow parents and educators!
Don’t forget to add the Empowering Kids With Character Flash Briefing on your Amazon Alexa app or Google Play!
Transcribed by Mandy Bush, Executive Assistant
