The New Foundation says children will often feel outdone by their friends and classmates. However, you can bolster your child’s confidence with these focus-changing strategies.

1. 4 WAYS TO BOOST YOUR
CHILD’S CONFIDENCE
The New Foundation
says children will often feel
outdone by their friends and
classmates. However, you
can bolster your child’s
confidence with these
focus-changing strategies.

2. Telling your savvy school-age child that he can play the piano as well as the
class Mozart isn’t going to fly if it isn’t true. And dismissing the
observation—“Who cares if Nick is better at the piano?”—won’t make him
feel any more.
Acknowledge his feelings with a simple statement: “You noticed that Nick
can read music, and you’d like to be able to do that too, right?” Then help
him understand how. Let your child decide if mastering a specific task and
putting in the required effort is important to him (or whether he’d be

3. If your child comes home from school upset, saying, “Kerry is prettier than I
am,” find out what’s really behind the statement. Five- and 6-year-olds
often jump to the wrong conclusion, mistaking a teacher’s compliment to
another student as a statement of fact. Still, her sense that other kids are
“better” could indicate an underlying problem. “If you’re concerned, talk to
your child’s teacher to make sure that everything’s fine, academically and
socially,” Dr. Sileo suggests.

4. Make sure that you’re not the one accidentally setting the comparisons in
motion,. Encouraging him
to practice tying his shoe laces is a good thing, but pushing him too hard
or bringing up the fact at the dinner table that his friends already know
how to tie double knots can make him think in terms of “better” and
“worse” and come to the conclusion that he is inferior to his peers.
“Instead, focus on supporting his interests, praising him on both his
efforts and his mastery,” Dr. Walco says.

5. Teach your child that the most important comparison isn’t between her and
her best friend (or her classmate or big sister) but the person she was in the
past. “Kids have to learn to measure themselves against themselves”. Point out
how much she has improved over a short period of time: “Remember last year,
when you couldn’t read at all? Look how far you’ve come in just one year!”

6. THE NEW FOUNDATION
Article By Leslie Garisto Pfaff from Parents Magazine
For more helpful tips and
advice, please contact The New
Foundation.