Dr. Catharine Toso provides some insights for parents who want to raise confident children.

1. A Parent's Guide
to Raising a More
Confident Child
DR. CATHARINE TOSO

2. A child’s confidence stems
from learned behaviors of the
adults around them.
As a parent, the ability to raise a child beaming with poise can become
challenging. Along with setting a good example as a parent, here are
some tips to help any child feel better in their own skin.

3. Encouragement,
Not Criticism
Discouraging a defeat or mistake often
leads a child to feel a sense of
embarrassment – a key factor in lack of
confidence. Whenever an attempt at
something new is made, the child should
receive praise, even if they stumble along
the way. Of course, as children age, they
seek constructive criticism in areas they
want to thrive in. However, at younger
stages, consistent encouragement to avoid
active embarrassment guides them towards
self-assurance.

4. Trial Without
Error
Every new experience in a child’s life
should be looked at as a trial, without
any assumption of error. Say the child
wants to join a ballet class, yet the
parent knows difficulties are likely to
arise as her child is not very
coordinated. Allowing the child to try
this new endeavor with no
preconceived notions of failing gives
them the confidence to walk into the
class and start fresh, even if they do
end up falling a few times.

5. Foster
Independence
An obvious way to ensure a child is
brought up knowing self-worth is allowing
them to discover their independence. This
doesn’t mean that you should stop
monitoring them, but it’s important to give
them space to make their own decisions.
As the child ages, more intricate and
important decisions will require parental
guidance, but allowing them to seek
certain fates on their own will help boost
their self-assurance.

6. Don’t Always
Rescue Them
Of course, no parent wants to see their
child get hurt, but sometimes letting
them problem solve and find a
solution without stepping in and
completely solving the issue is the
right move. When a parent constantly
rushes to their child’s side to save
them, they are likely causing more
harm than good and the child thinks
they will always need a parent to fight
their battles.

7. Thank
You!
CatharineToso.com