Self-confidence is one of the tools children use to propel them through their education, affecting how easily they learn and how they feel about schooling. However, for kids with special educational needs, they have often spent years comparing themselves with children that do not face the obstacles that they do. They witness other children who thrive in the traditional educational environment in a way that takes so much additional work for them. This is why boosting confidence in your child with SEN is so important.
Without a confidence boost, a child with SEN can feel like they are failing, as if they can’t achieve. But we can take steps to avoid that. We can find ways to boost confidence in children, to develop their self-esteem and help them realise that they have unique abilities that can help them achieve what it is that they want to achieve.
Ways to Boost Confidence in Your Child
1) Encourage them to find what makes them tick
If a child is forced to work intently at something that they actively dislike, not only will they feel demoralised if they do not achieve what they deem to be a success, but they will also resent the task. This can just increase the sense of frustration.
The alternative is to find those tasks, topics and methods that they enjoy when encouraging them to learn at home. This way, the hard work doesn't seem like hard work. If they are actively enjoying the process of learning, that will help build their self-esteem, boosting confidence at the same time.
This has the added bonus of showing them that they are worthy of attention. You have actively chosen a task based on their preferences, which is incredibly emboldening. Whether it is learning through art and craft, or through song, they are the reason you are doing what you are doing.
2) Set them small jobs to complete
Providing jobs or tasks around the home for your child to complete allows them to feel responsibility and to experience that rush you get when you tick off a task. Placing their washed and ironed clothes in their drawers, putting out the milk bottles, setting the table for dinner; all of these activities have a defined endpoint that allows you, and them, to recognise their achievement.
Completing these jobs gives the satisfaction of a job well done and ties up some loose ends, boosting confidence and instilling self-esteem and pride.
3) Break down tasks into smaller steps
One of the issues some kids with special educational needs have is becoming frustrated that they don’t succeed immediately. They sometimes learn in a slower time frame than their peers and this can knock self-confidence. They don’t get that satisfaction of completion as often. This is why you should break down tasks into small steps.
After each step, they gain the confidence boost of achievement and can see their progress towards their ultimate goal. Celebrate each step and you will instill a sense of perseverance in the child, who understands how sticking to the task at hand helps them to achieve their goals.
4) Spend quality time together
By truly tuning in to your child and dedicating time to focus on them, you fill them with self-esteem.
This could be taking part in their favourite pastimes and learning more about what they enjoy doing and why they like it so much. But it can also be a shared passion that is exclusive to you two. For example, Saturday morning might be the time when just you and your child go out and get brunch together, leaving the other family members at home. It can also be as simple as dancing in the kitchen after dinner every night.
More Ways of Boosting Confidence in Your Child
These are just four examples of ways of boosting confidence in your child, and there are many more ways to engage children with special educational needs. Essentially, anything that makes them feel great about themselves, noticed and valued is great for self-esteem and confidence.
At Tuition 4 Mastery, we provide professional, expert and highly trained maths tutors to support pupils to reach their full potential, unlocking the wonder of mathematics for them. We do so by instilling them with confidence and encouraging them in their endeavours during our tailored, specialised tuition sessions.
Contact us today to work with one of our outstanding tutors and try putting one or more of these methods for boosting confidence today.
Comments