Research indicates that one of the main factors that contributes to a child development to help the child to feel special and appreciated; a parent who does not ignore a child's problems, but focuses energy on a child's strengths will have a child who has a higher self esteem and will develop personally and socially a lot better.
The Parenting Expert Sue Atkins, discusses how to help your child feel special and appreciated, in an article aptly titled Nurturing your child’s Self Esteem by Sue Aktins she staes that “One of the main factors that contribute to your child becoming resilient and confident is by you focusing your energy on your child's strengths and not constantly picking up on their weaknesses.”
http://sueatkinsparentingcoach.com/
So when asking the question : How can you help your child feel special, it is in fact, very simple. According to Leigh Leverrier, a family life coach in the Washington, D.C., "Children feel special when they are respected, noticed, listened to, and heard." http://www.babycenter.com/0_simple-ways-to-make-your-child-feel-special_3657925.bc So simply giving your child your time and attention can help.
Ofcourse in today’s society, we have many parents who are busy, or perhaps single parents, or a large family where the child has lots of equally parent dependable siblings. Family therapist Dennis Neill focuses his advise on sibling rivalry and how to help each child feel special, he states “Spending separate time with your children can make them feel special and appreciated. Helping your children to feel valued and special will save you lots of problems in other areas of their lives too. Children will constantly judge how fair you are being in your parenting - for them it is about how much you love and value them.” http://www.familytherapy.org.uk/Leaflets/siblingrivalry.html
Dr. Jane Nelsen Ed.D. is a licensed marriage, family and child counselor, she states “Kids feel special when you share yourself. Helping your child feel special is a matter of planning and habit, not a lack of time. The fringe benefit of making it a habit to help your child feel special is that you will feel like a special mom or dad.” http://store.positivediscipline.com/Seven-Ways-Busy-Parents-Can-Help-Their-Children-Feel-Special_b_5.html So it is a positive for all!
So now we know helping a child feel special will help their self esteem , thus helping their personal and social development. We need to understand why it is important. The national network of child care studied characteristics of children with high self esteem and they found, “Most of the time, children with high self-esteem will; make friends easily, show enthusiasm for new activities , be cooperative and follow age-appropriate rules , control their behavior., play by themselves and with other children , like to be creative and have their own ideas, be happy, fully of energy, and talk to others without much encouragement.” http://www.nncc.org/guidance/self.esteem.html Needless to say then , that yes a high self esteem is paramount and extremely important for a childs development. Self esteem will come hand in hand when you make your child feel special and appreciated.
To summerise I quote Dr Sears a trusted resource for parents “Self-esteem is your child's passport to lifetime mental health and social happiness” http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/child-rearing-and-development/12-ways-help-your-child-build-self-confidence Spend time with your child focus in their strengths , show them their self worth, show them they can be who they want to be if they try, show that we all have different skills but all have special talents and true inner self worth can be produced. Thus building a form foundation for a child to develop socially and personally into adults who live with self pride, respect for themselves and others. Lives that are fulfilled, successful and happy!
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