Wellbeing

As Term 1 heads towards the half-way mark, our classes have begun to explore confidence, treating ourselves like we would treat others and self-esteem. 

Children who feel good about themselves have the confidence to try their best at new things. Having good self-esteem helps them feel liked, accepted, and confident. They feel proud of what they can do and think good things about themselves. Self-esteem also helps them cope with mistakes. They feel encouraged to try again, even if they fail at first. Self-esteem helps students do better at school, at home, and with friends.

Children with low self-esteem criticise themselves and doubt they can do things well. They feel they're not as good as other kids and think of the times they fail rather than when they succeed. These thoughts often spiral and can multiply and become unrealistic. 

In Friendology, we call these negative thoughts ANTs – Automatic Negative Thoughts. 

It is normal to have ANTs from time to time; however, if we let them roam free in our minds, they can shake our confidence and stop us from doing things. One way to challenge or squash our ANTs is to replace our Automatic Negative Thoughts with positive ones.

The way we think about and talk to ourselves is very important because positive thoughts can squash ANTs and increase our general wellbeing.

Some ways we can boost confidence in our students and children are:

1. Praise the attempt, not just the success – Praise them for trying something new, trying their hardest or having a positive attitude. Success comes in many shapes and forms and simply trying is worthy of positive feedback. 
2. Help them learn - Teach by showing and helping at first. Then let them do what they can, even if they make mistakes. This is a key part of developing positive self-esteem. Be sure they get a chance to learn, try, and feel proud.
3. Accentuate the positive - It can be easy for kids to focus on what went wrong, like not doing well on a test. Each night before bed, have your child say at least 3 good things that happened that day. Soon kids will start to notice more positive things about the people in their life and themselves.

As always, I am available via compass if you have any questions, would like more self-esteem boosting tips, or would like to chat with me about anything wellbeing related. 

Have a lovely weekend,

Louise Jarvis