Wow… What an exciting morning we had of discussion and learning from each others experiences. Thankyou to Kayleen who shared some great words of wisdom and encouragement as we work on building ‘Confidence and Self-Esteem’ in our children (and of course ourselves!)

Some helpful tips

• Self-esteem is about liking yourself and who you are. ‘Believing in yourself!’
• For children, self-esteem comes from knowing that they’re loved and that they belong to a family and a community that values them. Tell your child that you love them!
• Encourage your child to value being part of your family. One way to do this is by involving your child in age-appropriate chores. When everyone contributes to the smooth running of the household, you all feel important and valued.
• Remember that we are our children’s greatest role models and teachers. Our children can be like little mirrors reflecting back at us our greatest weaknesses. 
• We can grow confidence in our children by modelling confident behaviour ourselves. This may take some conscious effort and reflection on our own part.
• Our words are very powerful. Messages that say something negative about children are bad for their self-esteem – for example, ‘You are slow, naughty and a sook…’ When children do something you don’t like, it’s better to tell them what they could do instead. For example, ‘You haven’t done your homework. You need to sit down now and finish your maths questions’.
• How you think, effects how you feel, which leads to how you act or behave. In other words, You become what you think about!

A confident mindset is developed through ongoing guidance, conversations, encouragement and practice. 

Enjoy the journey with your children, all too quickly they too will become adults!

Love to see you at our next Café Connect, Thursday 14^th May 9.15am at Coffee Ink.