My son is 6, nearly 7, and has not much confidence. He has one good friend at school who will be emigrating to Australia at Christmas. He finds it hard to mix with most of the boys in his class, as they are mostly into football, which he isn't (because he thinks he can't do it!) He's afraid to try anything new in case he makes mistakes, and even though he's a lovely gentle boy, who can be great fun, this doesn't always come across at school. He is the youngest in his class, and that doesn't help either. Any ideas???
(I've categorised this under 'Grade Schooler but I'm from the UK, so not sure if that's right, please don't report me for miscategorisation!)
2006-08-06 08:50:41 · 20 answers · asked by Jude 7 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Grade-Schooler
Confidence goes hand in hand with self-esteem. They build from and on each other. This provides you two ways of reinforcing these attributes. This can be done by a series of events that are introduced to your young son that will provide him with a successful outcome. Such an event will allow him to convince himself he can accomplish things that he initially sees as a failure with out even trying. Once he begins with a series of successes, they should increase with level of difficulty. This will help him understand that to achieve success, it must sometimes be worked for. As he begins to realize a series of successes, then introduce some situations that he can-not win. This will reinforce with in him the concept of failure, and that it is ok to fail as long as he has tried his best!
2006-08-06 09:02:41 · answer #1 · answered by Cronus 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We started taking ours along to Judo classes for this reason. They learn with kids of a broadly similar age, and these things are by definition very mixed ability, they get to wear all the kit (judogi ~£15) so they feel a bit of a ninja like the programs they see on the TV such as Shaolin Showdown etc...they learn a few words in Japanese and for the first month or so they concentrate on groundwork so there is no big throwing etc..
We found that its given our eight year old boy and five year old girl, a lot of physical confidence and they are meeting new kids in similar positions in the starter class so it improves their interpersonal skills and ability to make friends and then dump them on the mat!
When they practise the throws on the teachers who alway put ina big elaborate break fall with a loud bang and later they practise on other students onto crash mats it appears to give them a buzz and the grading structure for the under eights means that they can progress quite rapidly and soon wear a coloured belt / tags.
Link to a couple of websites below, the first if the Kano grading scheme and the second the BJA. Only thing I'd say about the BJA is that whilst it is the main body for judo in the UK there are others and non registered clunbs that are still properly insured so why not check with your local council
Its worked well for mine, good luck
2006-08-06 09:11:18 · answer #2 · answered by Fram464 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
Can anyone help me boost the confidence of a 6 year old?
My son is 6, nearly 7, and has not much confidence. He has one good friend at school who will be emigrating to Australia at Christmas. He finds it hard to mix with most of the boys in his class, as they are mostly into football, which he isn't (because he thinks he can't do it!) He's...
2015-08-12 19:56:06 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was the same at school and was introduced to martial arts.
I stopped doing it when I was 18 but got back into it about 3 years ago.If you find him a good martial arts school with a good kids class you will see a difference in no time.I gained so much confidence and many good friends.
my 6 year old daughter was the same and I started her,she was afraid she would mess up when I was there so I started her in another class and she is good at it and enjoys it.
Best of luck hope that helps
2006-08-06 08:59:30 · answer #4 · answered by eheadhippy 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why dont you invite some of the chilren from his school over to your home maybe on a sunny saturday and have a trying party were all the children have to try thing sthat they have not done before ie football, cricket , etc and give them small prizes even if there only 5p sweets each time they try something do this in the morning and in the after noon let them do anything they wont,
As it is at your home and infront off only a few class mates he may relax and enjoy it more it might bring him out off his self too children are more relaxed in there own home he may try things at school more
hope this helps
2006-08-06 08:58:46 · answer #5 · answered by lyndsay 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My six year old is also gentle and quiet but he is full of confidence in his mental skills. He hates football and would rather do maths or read than play sport.
His best friends are girls, which I encourage. I invite his friends around to our home. I also tell him how proud we are of the things he can do and encourage him to try other things. He hates high slides and will not even try it but we tell him that it is there when he is ready. I still take him to the park with his friends so that he can see the fun and join in if he wants.
The best thing I think is to encourage all the things he wants to do and that he is good at so he gets a pride in himself.
It is hard though because you want to show them how good you think they are while not pushing too much. Just make sure that he is happy with who he is. My son won't put his hand up in class but he has the answers!
Good luck with helping your son.
2006-08-06 09:07:03 · answer #6 · answered by Mad Mum 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It could be that he just isn't a sociable boy. around 25% are like this as infants and 25% of those stay that way.
Various reasons have been Hypothosised for this, heriditability has looked into the area and been studied in depth for about 80 years, the mosre recent work by the likes of Jerome Kagan points to a neurological basis for it, in that some children like this have a highly reacive amygdala, meaning the bit of the brain that makes them nervous is triggered in social situation, even ones we don't feel pressurised in ourselves.
The main thing with this knowledge is not to push him too hard.
If he is biologically disposed to react in this way you can't cure him.
Praise and one to one time help, as will letting him do what he wants to do.
FYI, people that are this way tend to go on to lead very happy lives and are more likely to become academics as the rigorous working alone suits them
2006-08-06 09:02:59 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Find out from the teachers the names of some of the other boys in the class who they feel might be good friends for your son. Then, invite them over for a little playtime- structured if necessary. Maybe they could all work on a model airplane that they could then take home with them... or build something else together.
Limit the playtime to an hour and a half at most.
Then, perhaps he will be invited to one of the boys' homes for a playtime. If not, ask them over again.
Best wishes- from a grandma-aged person
2006-08-06 09:54:56 · answer #8 · answered by PeggyS 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe you could try an activity of his choice outside of school, such as karate. If he finds that he does well at this, it may help to boost his self esteem. Other than that, the only thing I know is to just keep praising him for his accomplishments. Keep an eye on him though, if his disposition does not improve, you may need the help of a child therapist. He may just come out of his shell on his own. Good luck!
2006-08-06 08:58:45 · answer #9 · answered by peach 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tough question, my kids are the opposit and i have to hold them back. Martial arts is certainly a confidence builder. Try an individual sport that there is no direct competition in, a friend of mine from school was shite at most sports and took up cycling nobody else did it so he became the best in school at it, he did cycle professionaly until a bad crash as well
2006-08-06 09:00:25 · answer #10 · answered by John M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋