Self-Praise for Children
Jan 04, 2021“Acknowledge all of your small victories. They will eventually add up to something great.” Kara Goucher
Helping children be their own cheer leader too!
Although children love to know they have pleased us, an important thing to remember is we can work towards encouraging them from the start to have the confidence to evaluate, give feedback and praise themselves.
Self-assessment and acknowledgment is vital because it is central to independent learning which is what we want for all children. To trust themselves and their abilities and this takes genuine self-esteem.
Many people find it uncomfortable to self-assess and praise because they don’t like the responsibility it puts upon them and they feel vulnerable in knowing they could have done better. The more a child is given the practise of self-evaluation and acknowledgment the more resilient they become in being able to take feedback and learn from it.
For Parents
Actively avoid doing all the evaluating. Your child will become addicted to your opinion rather than trusting themselves. You can do this by deflecting feedback when they show you something they are proud of “I see how excited you are about your blocks/project/painting, you worked really hard on it, I think it looks great, how do you feel about it?” Of course it’s wonderful to match their enthusiasm and excitement but it’s also great to seize the teachable moment to nurture self-assessment and self-acknowledge. So they see the strengths and abilities within themselves or the things they need to work on.
For Educators
Ask the children to feedback their own work, and then do peer feedback for each other. The children will learn to be honest with themselves and others and learn effective communication skills to be able to do this, with lots of practise.
Kerry Spina
Kids in Harmony
Wellbeing Educator | Behaviour Support Coach
