Want to boost children’s confidence? Let them make mistakes.
Let them make new mistakes.
Discovering yet another repeated mistake makes us want to tear our hair out. But new mistakes are different.
New mistakes are fun.
Getting something wrong means one gets an opportunity right here, right now, to learn that the current method doesn’t work. So we'd better figure something else out.
For children, it’s important they don’t get frustrated then give up. Encourage them to seek clues and ways to fix that problem. And they'll remember this proudly.
At my cart this past Tuesday, I saw how a mother encouraged her 5-year-old son in solving one of our spot-the-difference puzzles: her approach was gentle but firm. Whenever he got one correct, she praised him with a soft ‘Well-done,’ or an ‘Okay, good … and the next one?’ When he hovered on the edge of a mistake, neither his mother nor I hastened to prevent him from making that mistake. We just let him make it.
And then his mother asked him if he was sure, he said ‘no,’ and began to search carefully for the last difference between the pictures. We gave him a little clue to guide him, nothing too obvious because that would push him to rely on others in finding answers. And that little man did manage to solve the puzzle after all!
So loosen the reins of preventing mistakes. New mistakes. This is absolutely one of the best ways to fuel self-confidence: train children to dare to make new mistakes then learn from them.
Here are few quotes on Confidence and Making Mistakes that I love:
· Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong. ~Peter T. Mcintyre
· You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go.
~Dr. Seuss
· I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship. ~Louisa May Alcott
Let them make new mistakes.
Discovering yet another repeated mistake makes us want to tear our hair out. But new mistakes are different.
New mistakes are fun.
Getting something wrong means one gets an opportunity right here, right now, to learn that the current method doesn’t work. So we'd better figure something else out.
For children, it’s important they don’t get frustrated then give up. Encourage them to seek clues and ways to fix that problem. And they'll remember this proudly.
At my cart this past Tuesday, I saw how a mother encouraged her 5-year-old son in solving one of our spot-the-difference puzzles: her approach was gentle but firm. Whenever he got one correct, she praised him with a soft ‘Well-done,’ or an ‘Okay, good … and the next one?’ When he hovered on the edge of a mistake, neither his mother nor I hastened to prevent him from making that mistake. We just let him make it.
And then his mother asked him if he was sure, he said ‘no,’ and began to search carefully for the last difference between the pictures. We gave him a little clue to guide him, nothing too obvious because that would push him to rely on others in finding answers. And that little man did manage to solve the puzzle after all!
So loosen the reins of preventing mistakes. New mistakes. This is absolutely one of the best ways to fuel self-confidence: train children to dare to make new mistakes then learn from them.
Here are few quotes on Confidence and Making Mistakes that I love:
· Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong. ~Peter T. Mcintyre
· You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go.
~Dr. Seuss
· I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship. ~Louisa May Alcott
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