Features of self-esteem in preschool children. Kindergarten teachers, school teachers and educators

Psychologists classify self-esteem as a basic personality trait. This is a person’s assessment of himself, his abilities and his place among other people, including in the family and in any group. After all, his relationships with people around him and his success depend on the assessment a person gives himself. And self-esteem is different for each person: some overestimate themselves, while others, on the contrary, do not value their abilities and character traits at all. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of a child’s self-esteem for his development. His attitude towards his successes and failures in any type of activity, and therefore self-esteem, success, and self-confidence in the future depend on it.

Self-esteem is an important condition for the formation of a person’s personality. It is closely related to the development of a child’s self-awareness.

Self-esteem is an important condition for the formation of a person’s personality

Self-esteem in preschool children

An individual becomes a person due to the presence of a number of conditions. Self-esteem is considered one of the most essential of them. It develops in the child the need to respond not only to the level of the surrounding society, but also to the degree of subjective personal assessments. Adequately formed self-esteem of a child of senior preschool age is not just knowledge of himself, and not the sum of individual qualities, but a deterministic attitude towards himself, providing for the comprehension of the personality as some stable object.

Self-esteem is the central link in the chain of voluntary self-regulation, determining the direction and degree of activity of the individual, his attitude towards the environment, society, and himself. It is a rather complex psychological phenomenon.

Self-esteem is involved in many connections and relationships with mental new formations of the individual. It is an important determinant of all types of activities and communications. The ability to evaluate oneself begins in early childhood, and its further formation and improvement is carried out throughout the subject’s life.

Adequate self-esteem allows you to preserve the immutability of your personality, regardless of changes in conditions and circumstances, while ensuring the ability to remain yourself. Today, the impact of a preschool child’s self-esteem on his actions and interpersonal contacts is becoming increasingly obvious.

Senior preschool age is characterized by a period of the child’s awareness of himself, his own motivation and needs in the environment of human relationships. Therefore, it is quite important in this period to lay the basis for the formation of adequate self-esteem, which in the future will allow the child to correctly evaluate himself, realistically imagine his capabilities and strengths, and independently determine goals, objectives and directions.

At preschool age, the child begins to realize the very fact of his existence. The formation of true self-esteem begins with children’s realistic assessment of their own skills, performance results and certain knowledge. During this period, children can less objectively assess the qualities of their personality. They tend to overestimate themselves due to the fact that significant adults evaluate them predominantly positively. It is on the assessment of an adult that a child’s assessment of himself largely depends. Underestimation has a negative impact. And inflated grades distort children's judgments about their own potential towards exaggeration. However, along with this, positive assessments play a positive role in activities.

Therefore, the correctness of a preschooler’s understanding of his own actions largely depends on the evaluative influence of significant adult individuals. At the same time, a fully formed vision of oneself allows the child to be more critical of the assessments of the surrounding society.

The personal internal position of preschool children in relation to other persons is determined by the awareness of the personal “I”, their actions, behavior and interest in the world of adults. At this age, the baby learns to separate his personality from the assessment of others. Preschoolers’ comprehension of the boundaries of their own capabilities occurs not only through communication with adults or peers, but also through personal practical skills. Young individuals with overestimated or underestimated self-esteem are more vulnerable and sensitive to the value judgments of adults, as a result of which they are quite easily influenced by them.

Interaction with peers plays a significant role in developing children’s adequate self-image. The ability to see oneself through the eyes of peers develops through the exchange of evaluative influences between them and, at the same time, a certain attitude towards other children appears. A preschooler’s ability to analyze the consequences of his activities depends directly on his ability to analyze the results of other children. It is in communication interaction that the ability to evaluate another individual is developed, which stimulates the formation of self-esteem.

For preschoolers, a wealth of personal experience helps them critically evaluate the influence of peers. There is a value system among children that determines their mutual assessments.

It is a little more difficult for preschoolers to evaluate themselves than for peers. He is more demanding of his peers and therefore evaluates him much more objectively. The self-esteem of a preschooler is quite emotional, and as a result, it is often positive. Negative self-assessments are very rare.

Self-esteem in a child of senior preschool age is often inadequate (mostly overestimated). This occurs due to the fact that it is difficult for a child to separate personal abilities from his personality as a whole. Kids cannot admit that they are doing something worse than others, because for them this will mean admitting that they themselves are worse than others.

Over time, the self-esteem of a child of senior preschool age changes towards adequacy, and more fully reflects his potential. Initially, it manifests itself in productive activities or in games with specific rules, in which one can clearly demonstrate and compare one’s own achievements with the results of other children. Based on real supports, for example, on their own drawings, it is easier for preschoolers to correctly evaluate themselves. The game process is a kind of school of social relations, modeling the behavior of preschoolers. It is in game processes that the main new formations of this period are formed.

To summarize, it should be concluded that in order to develop adequate self-esteem in preschoolers, the activities in which the child is involved and the assessment of his achievements and successes by significant adults and peers are important.

How is it formed?

A small child’s opinion of himself begins to form at the age of 2.5 - 3 years through experiencing a crisis of independence, when he wants to try to do everything himself. The second indicator of formation is praise from adults; this is the main incentive for further performance of certain actions.

Often at this age, kids do certain things in order to get attention, first for their mother: the child draws and runs and shows his image to his mother, or hangs on the horizontal bar with one hand and shouts to his mother to see how he can. Intrudes into adult conversations with his “urgent” request.

It is important to pay attention to all this, not to ignore, but to correct, stimulate, encourage, explain, and gently guide in the right direction.

I repeat, first this is for the mother and the close circle where the child revolves, then for the educator, teacher, coach, and then for the girl she likes, and so on. This is how our life develops, and all this is layered, formed, and it is molded, like a layer cake, a person’s self-esteem.

Self-esteem of a child of primary school age

Self-esteem is the most important personal formation, which has a significant impact on all areas of a subject’s life and acts as the most important balancer of activity, which promotes self-development. The degree of aspirations, the subject’s relationship with surrounding individuals and his activity directly depend on the characteristics of self-esteem.

To feel happy, develop the ability to better adapt and overcome difficulties, the baby needs to have a positive vision of himself and adequate self-esteem.

Since self-esteem is established in early childhood and continues to develop in school, it is amenable to influence and correction during this period. That is why parents, teachers and other adults who work with children of primary school age need to know and take into account all the patterns, characteristic features of the formation of self-esteem, and in addition, ways of developing normal (adequate) self-esteem and a positive “I” concept in in general.

In the primary school period, communication interaction with peers plays an increasingly important role in the child’s development. During the communication of children with peers, not only cognitive-subject activity is carried out more effectively, but also core skills of interpersonal interaction and moral behavior are developed. Aspiration towards peers, a craving for communication with them makes a group of peers of the same age incredibly valuable and attractive for a schoolchild. They value the opportunity to be in a children's group very much. The direction of his development depends on the quality of communication with peers. It follows that interpersonal interaction in a team is considered one of the most important factors developing personality and developing adequate self-esteem. However, we should not forget about the contribution of parental correct encouragement and competent praise to the formation of normal self-esteem in a child.

A school group that has a disadvantaged position in the system of interpersonal relations of the class has similar characteristics. Children in such groups have problems communicating with peers and are characterized by quarrelsomeness, which can be expressed in pugnacity, excessive temperament, volatility, rudeness, capriciousness or isolation. Often such kids are characterized by a tendency to sneak, arrogance, greed, sloppiness and sloppiness.

Children who are popular with their peers are characterized by a set of common traits. They have a balanced character, are sociable, and are distinguished by their initiative, activity and rich imagination. Most of these kids study quite well.

During the educational process, children gradually become more critical, pretentious and demanding of themselves. A child in the first grade predominantly evaluates his own educational activities positively, but associates failures and failures with objective reasons and circumstances. Children of the second, and especially the third grade, are more critical of their own personality, and at the same time they make the subject of evaluation not only good behavior, but also bad actions, not only success, but also failure in learning.

During primary school education, the meaning of grades for children changes significantly, while they are in direct proportion to the motivation for learning and the demands that they place on themselves. The attitude of children towards the perception of their achievements and successes is increasingly connected with the need to have more fair ideas about their own personality. It follows that the role of school grades is not only that they should influence the child’s cognitive activity. A teacher, assessing the knowledge of younger schoolchildren, essentially simultaneously evaluates the child’s personality, his potential and place among others. Therefore, this is how grades are perceived by kids. Based on the teacher's grades, children themselves divide themselves and their classmates into excellent students, average and weak students, diligent or not very diligent, responsible or not at all, disciplined or not.

The main direction in the formation of self-esteem is the gradual identification by children of individual qualities from certain types of activities and behavior, their generalization and understanding, first as characteristic features of behavior, and then as relatively permanent personality qualities.

Children do not appear in this world already with a certain attitude towards themselves. Their self-esteem, like other characteristic personality traits, is formed during their upbringing, in which the main role is given to family and school.

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Addressing children and adolescents to teach them in detail about self-esteem and its importance in life

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You can't touch it, but it greatly influences how you feel. You can't see it, but it's there when you look at yourself in the mirror. You cannot hear it, but it is there when you talk or think about yourself. What is this... mysterious and important? This is your self-esteem! What is self-esteem? Self-esteem is as much about how you feel about yourself, how you see yourself and your abilities, and how much you like or care about something. To better understand the term self-esteem, we need to break it down into the two words that make it up. Let's first look at the word "appreciation": it means the importance, significance, specialness (uniqueness) or value of someone or something. For example, if you really admire your father's friend who works on the rescue team, it means that you think highly of him. And the special prize for the most valuable player on the team is often called the appraisal prize. This means that the prize is given for an important achievement. “Self” means yourself! So put these two words together and you will easily understand what self-esteem means. It is how much you value yourself and how significant and important you consider yourself to be. It's who you see yourself as and how you feel about your own abilities. Self-esteem is not bragging, it is a way to find out what you can do well and what you can’t do well. Many of us often think about how much we like other people or things, but don't think much about how much we like ourselves. Self-esteem isn't about believing you're perfect, because no one is. Even if you think that other children are capable of absolutely everything, you can be sure that they also have strengths and weaknesses. The most important thing to know about self-esteem is that it involves seeing yourself in a positive way that is realistic, that is, truthful. So if you think you're great at playing the piano but you're terrible at drawing, you can still have high self-esteem! Why is self-esteem so important? All children have self-esteem, and it is a healthy or positive self-esteem that is important. She helps you hold your head up high and be proud of yourself and your abilities, even when things aren't going well. Self-esteem gives you the courage to try new things and the power to believe in yourself. It allows you to respect yourself even when you make mistakes. And when you respect yourself, adults and children tend to respect you as well. Positive self-esteem helps you learn to make healthy choices for your mind and body. If you know your importance, you are less likely to follow the crowd when your friends are doing something wrong or dangerous. If you have positive self-esteem, you know that you are able to make your own decisions. You value your safety, your feelings, your health - all of yourself! Positive self-esteem helps you know that every part of you is worthy of care and protection. How do children gain self-esteem? Babies think neither good nor bad about themselves. They don't think, "I'm awesome!" when they spit up mommy's milk, and they don't worry, "Oh no, my legs look weird in this diaper!" The people around him help his child develop self-esteem. How? Praising your baby as he learns to crawl, walk or talk. People around us often say: “Well done, keep it up!” or they can simply smile and look at the child with love and pride. When people take good care of a child, it also helps the child feel loved and valued. As children get older, they play a greater role in the development of their own self-esteem. Working hard on a project or assignment, getting a higher grade on a math test, or playing a new sport are moments that make children proud of themselves. Some kids aren't very athletic, but they can read well, or do magic tricks, or they're just good friends, or they help other people—all these are accomplishments that help kids feel good about themselves and feel good about themselves. A child's family and other people in his life, such as coaches, teachers, and classmates, can also boost his self-esteem. They can help the child figure out how to change something in himself or acquire a new quality, or note those good qualities that are already present in him. They can believe in the child and support his desire to try again and again if something does not work out the first time. It is important for you to learn to think about yourself in a positive way, to be proud of what you have done, and to be confident that you can achieve much more. A Word About Low Self-Esteem You may know children with low self-esteem who don't think very highly of themselves or who criticize themselves too much. This can also be called negative (negative) self-esteem, which is the opposite of positive self-esteem. Perhaps sometimes you too have low self-esteem, and you don’t always think well of yourself or don’t consider yourself truly significant. A child may have low self-esteem when parents do not support him enough or yell a lot. There are times when self-esteem can suffer in the classroom. The teacher or other children may make the child feel not smart enough, or there may be unkind children in the class who say hurtful things about the way the child looks or behaves. For some children, schoolwork may seem so difficult that they are unable to keep up with others or achieve the grades they want. This can make them feel disillusioned with themselves and harm their self-esteem. While some children do well academically and win prizes and awards, other children may feel that they are worse than others or that there is something wrong with them. Some children have high self-esteem, but then events happen in their lives that change it. For example:

If a child moves and cannot quickly make friends at the new school, he may be dissatisfied with himself and think that he is not capable of being a good friend.
Children whose parents divorce may notice that their self-esteem is affected. They may feel bad when their parents do not give them attention or play with them, or they may think that if they had behaved better and tidied up their room, their family would not have fallen apart.
Children who look different from other children may feel depressed and frustrated because they are “different” or because someone makes fun of them.
A child who has a serious illness such as diabetes or asthma may feel less confident than before.
Children who have learning or reading problems may begin to lose confidence and focus too much on correcting their shortcomings.
Even changes in the body during puberty—something that literally everyone goes through—can affect children's self-esteem.

Ways to Increase Self-Esteem Of course, it is normal to feel differently, but having low self-esteem is not normal. Feeling worthless makes you sad and prevents you from trying new things. This feeling may prevent you from making friends or affect your efforts in school. Having strong self-esteem is a very big part of growing up. As you get older and face difficult decisions—especially peer pressure—the stronger your self-esteem, the better. It's important to love yourself. If you have low self-esteem, try talking to an adult you trust about it. He can help you come up with some good ideas on how to improve your self-esteem. Self-esteem can improve when you try something you thought was too difficult and end up succeeding at it, or when parents, family members, or other adults are supportive, patient, and help you get on the right track. As soon as you start coping, your self-esteem will immediately skyrocket! Here are some ways to improve your self-esteem:

Make a list of activities that you are good at. This could be anything from drawing or singing to sports or a sense of humor. If you can't make a list yourself, ask mom or dad for help. Then add to the list a few activities that you would like to learn. Parents can help you develop a plan to master these new skills and discover your talents.
Give yourself three compliments every day. Don't just say, "I'm great." Talk about specific examples of your worthy behavior: “I was a good friend to Tanya today” or “I did better on the test than I expected.” Every day before you go to bed, make a list of three situations or manifestations of anything that happened today that made you happy or made you feel grateful.
Remember that the body is your own, regardless of shape, size or facial features. If you are concerned about your weight or clothing size, you can consult your doctor to make sure you are healthy. Remind yourself of the strengths of your body, for example: “I have strong legs, that’s why I’m good at skating.”
Remember that there are features in you that you cannot change. You must accept and love them - hair color, body constitution and shoe size, etc., because they are part of you.
When you feel bad about yourself, stop. Remind yourself of your strengths and if you can’t think of anything, ask someone! To begin to be proud and respect yourself, you should try to acquire new skills, such as martial arts techniques, the ability to dance or play a musical instrument.

By focusing on your abilities and wonderful qualities, you can learn to love and accept yourself for who you are - i.e. the main aspects of high self-esteem! Even if you have reasons to work on yourself (and who doesn't?), knowing that you have many abilities, that you are valuable and special to the people who care about you and love you, will help you truly cope. the process of growing up. Part of the process of growing up is learning to focus on your strengths, accepting and working on your weaknesses - that's basically self-esteem!

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Self-esteem in children and adolescents

For absolutely all people, self-esteem is the most important criterion that allows the individual to develop correctly. And in the puberty period its importance increases even more. If a teenager has adequate self-esteem, his chances of success increase. What are the adequacy criteria? If a teenager is able to assess his own potential objectively, if he is able to realize what position he occupies in the peer group and in society as a whole. Unfortunately, not all parents realize the importance of self-esteem and its level for the personal growth, development, and further success of their children. Therefore, they do not try to understand how to properly raise a child so that his self-esteem is adequate.

In very early childhood, a child’s self-esteem is at the proper level. However, gradually growing up, he begins to understand that for his parents the most important being is, and he considers the world created for himself. This is where high self-esteem comes from. Before a child reaches school age, self-esteem is more or less adequate, as he is faced with the reality of the environment and begins to realize that he is far from the only one in the universe and understands that other children are also loved. Only when children reach middle school age does the need arise for correction and development of adequate self-esteem in them, since for some it can simply go off scale, while for others it can go down.

In early childhood, the development of a child’s self-esteem was mainly influenced by parents, educators and teachers. At older school ages, peers come to the fore. During this period, good grades play a secondary role, and personal qualities such as sociability, the ability to express one’s point of view or defend positions, the ability to make friends, etc. become more important.

At this age, adults should help the teenager correctly interpret his desires, feelings, emotions, focus on positive character traits and get rid of negative personality traits. Therefore, it is not correct to highlight only academic performance.

In children of middle school age, self-esteem can be characterized by polarity, which is expressed in extremes. So, for example, a child who is the leader of the class will have extremely high self-esteem, while a child who is an outsider will have very low self-esteem.

To form adequate self-esteem or correct existing high or low self-esteem, parents need to provide the child with help and support. They must trust their children and treat them fairly. Make sure that there are no double standards in education. A teenager needs the respect of his parents. Adults are advised to avoid total control over the child, but at the same time, they should show a sincere interest in his hobbies. You also need to respect the opinion and position of your child.

The level of aspirations and self-esteem of high school teenagers are the result of relationships with peers. If a teenager is a leader by character or, conversely, an outsider, then one should not expect him to develop adequate self-esteem. Class favorites have the ability to transform their own shortcomings and mistakes into advantages, thereby setting an example for other children. This elevates them to a significant height, but sooner or later they will have to fall from it, which will be very painful for the teenager. Therefore, you need to try to convey to the child that a little healthy self-criticism will not hurt him. Parents must be clearly aware that undeserved or excessive praise leads directly to the emergence of narcissism.

Low self-esteem in a child can be formed due to the influence of family upbringing, peers, unrequited love, excessive self-criticism, dissatisfaction with oneself or dissatisfaction with appearance. Very often, such children tend to leave home or are susceptible to thoughts of suicide. Therefore, such a teenager vitally needs increased attention, respect and love from loved ones. In situations where his behavior deserves criticism, sometimes parents are still advised to refrain from it. And, on the contrary, attention should be focused on all his positive qualities and good deeds. A teenager with low self-esteem needs to know that he deserves approval, praise and respect.

Low and high self-esteem: why is it harmful?

Adequate self-esteem is a norm for a child, which can be achieved through communication with parents, their influence on the formation of basic values and important character traits of the child, and the ability to achieve success.

Underestimation of one's personal characteristics is associated with insufficient attention from the adult environment, which leads to children becoming withdrawn, unsociable, and abandoning their goals in the future.

Excessive attention, indulgence in all demands and replacement of live communication with a tablet or smartphone leads to overestimation of self-esteem, this becomes the reason for the development of selfishness, capriciousness and excessive nervousness.

Noticing this behavior in your child, you need to develop a plan on what to do if the child has high self-esteem, setting yourself up for long and difficult work, the reward for which will be the balanced and calm nature of the children.

Diagnosis of children's self-esteem

The means by which modern psychodiagnostics reveals the level of self-esteem and self-awareness of children are divided into formalized and less formalized methods. The first methods include tests, various questionnaires, projective techniques, and psychophysiological techniques. Formalized diagnostic methods are characterized by objectification of the research process (exact adherence to instructions, strictly established methods of presenting material for diagnosis, non-interference of the psychologist in the activities of the person being diagnosed, etc.). This method is also characterized by standardization, i.e., determination of the uniformity of the processing of research results, reliability and validity. Formalized methods allow you to create a diagnostic portrait of a person in the shortest possible time. The results of such methods are presented in accordance with specialized requirements, which allows quantitative and qualitative comparison of subjects with each other.

Less formalized methods include observation, conversation, and analysis of activity products. Such techniques provide very important information about the process or phenomenon under study, especially those that are practically impossible to objectify. It should be noted that these methods are quite labor-intensive, and their effectiveness is determined by the professionalism of the diagnostician. Therefore, poorly formalized diagnostic techniques should be used in conjunction with formalized techniques.

In preschool children, the level of self-esteem can be identified using a variety of games. For example, the “Name” game allows you to get information about a child’s self-esteem. It consists in the fact that the baby is asked to come up with a new name that he would like to have or, at his choice, keep his own. If your child chooses a new name, you should ask him questions about why he would like to change his name. Quite often, a child’s refusal to give his own name indicates that he is dissatisfied with himself and wants to become better. At the end of the game, you need to invite the child to model some actions with his own name. For example, say it more softly or angrily.

The self-esteem diagnostic technique developed by Dembo-Rubinstein and modified by A. Prikhozhan is considered quite common. It is based on students’ direct assessment of certain personal qualities, for example, health, character traits, various abilities, etc. The children being studied are asked to mark with certain signs the degree of development of certain qualities in them on vertical lines and the desired level of development of similar ones. The first scale will show the level of self-esteem that children currently have, and the second will show the level of their aspirations.

One of the most popular methods for studying children’s self-esteem is the “Ladder” test, which can be carried out in individual and group form. There are several variations of this technique. For example, the “Ladder” test, as interpreted by S. Yakobson and V. Shchur, includes seven steps and separate figures in the shape of a boy and a girl, cut out of thick paper or cardboard. This variation of the test is aimed not only at diagnosing the child’s level of self-esteem, but also at identifying personal aspirations. A modification of the technique, developed by Y. Kolomenskaya and M. Lisina, consists of an image of a ladder on a sheet of paper, only it consists of six steps. The child must determine his place on this ladder himself and assume the place where others place him.

Components of self-esteem

There are two components that underlie the psychological mechanism of self-esteem:

cognitive
emotional

The cognitive component represents the knowledge base about what a person can be, what qualities he can have in principle. This also includes moral characteristics, achievements in activity, and how a person manifests himself in communication.

For example, a preschooler knows that a person can be good or evil. He tries on both characteristics and concludes that he is, of course, kind.

Obviously, a 3-year-old toddler has so little experience in knowing people that his ideas about a person are limited to what his loved ones tell him. The development of the child’s cognitive processes and the expansion of his social circle will gradually serve him an invaluable service in accumulating knowledge about the individual.

By the time it comes time to enter school, the preschooler will already be comprehensively informed about personal qualities, and know a lot about how he can express himself in a given situation.

The emotional component of self-esteem (or affective) accumulates through communication with others. The social circle expands - the affective component of the self-image is enriched. Mom calls “my happiness”, “beauty”, “affectionate kitten”, and someone else’s aunt said: “What a capricious child.” A new characteristic is deposited in the child’s mind. After some time, he begins to understand in what situations he behaves capriciously.

Evaluative statements from adults contain emotional components and direct the preschooler’s attention to his behavior, thanks to which the child receives a model for forming ideas about himself.

Low self-esteem in a child

Low self-esteem in a child prevents him from establishing social contacts with peers and classmates. It prevents you from successfully mastering new skills. After all, if a child has done something unsuccessfully several times, he will not try again, as he will be sure that he will not succeed. Teenagers with low self-esteem tend to believe that no one needs them, as a result of which they may commit suicide.

Most often, the formation of low self-esteem in childhood is mainly influenced by improper family upbringing.

The main reasons contributing to low self-esteem in children include:

unattractive appearance;

external defects of appearance;

insufficient level of mental abilities;

improper parenting;

disrespectful attitude of older children in the family;

failures or mistakes in life that the baby takes to heart;

financial problems, as a result of which the child lives in worse conditions in comparison with his classmates;

an illness as a result of which the baby may consider himself defective;

changing of the living place;

dysfunctional or single-parent family;

aggression in the family.

You can often recognize low self-esteem in children by the phrases they often mention, for example, “I won’t succeed.” To identify problems with self-esteem in a child, you should pay close attention to how he behaves when interacting with peers.

Psychological tests that are based on the child’s self-image can help identify the problem of low self-esteem. For example, you can ask your child to draw himself. An auto-drawing can tell a lot about a child and his experiences. Overly gloomy colors and a plain-looking person are considered a sign that there are still reasons for concern. To confirm or refute an assumption, ask your child to draw all the members of your family and himself. If he portrays himself as disproportionately small compared to other members, then the child definitely suffers from low self-esteem.

How to determine?

To determine your child’s self-esteem, you don’t have to be a child psychologist; all kinds of tests, games will help you, and the child’s behavior itself will tell you about it.

In a child and in an adult it can be overestimated, underestimated and adequate.

With normal (adequate) self-esteem, a person evaluates his strengths and capabilities as they really are, without any offense towards himself or others. This does not lead to discomfort. An adult, knowing his strengths and weaknesses, can use them for his own personal purposes. Such people are cheerful and optimistic.

High self-esteem in a child

Children's self-esteem begins to develop from early childhood. Its formation is influenced, first of all, by parents, educators and surrounding children. At preschool age, you can already understand what kind of self-esteem a child has, based on his actions and actions.

Self-esteem is considered a component of self-awareness and includes, along with self-image, an individual’s assessment of his own physical qualities, abilities, moral qualities and actions.

Inflated self-esteem is an inadequately inflated assessment of oneself by a child. Such children always strive to be the first in everything, they demand that all the attention of adults belong to them, they consider themselves much better than others, often this opinion may not be supported by anything.

Inflated self-esteem can be caused by low assessment of his actions by peers, and low self-esteem can be caused by weak psychological stability.

Inflated self-esteem can be influenced not only by close people and the surrounding society, but also by the child’s character and personality traits.

Children with high self-esteem are characterized by comparative limitations in mastering types of activities and a high focus on communication interaction, and, often, it is of little content.

If a child is overly aggressive, this indicates extreme self-esteem. This means that it can be either very low or too high.

From about 8 years of age, children begin to evaluate their success in various areas independently. The most important factors for them are school success, appearance, physical ability, social acceptance and behavior. Along with this, school success and behavior are most important for parents, and the other three factors are for peers.

Parental support and acceptance of the child, his aspirations and hobbies have the greatest impact on the formation of an adequate level of general self-esteem, while school success and a number of other factors are significant only for self-assessment of abilities.

Typical mistakes parents make

The development of a child’s self-esteem occurs gradually and is formed by the superposition of several factors. First of all, if there is an imbalance, then close family members play a direct role in this: his parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents:

We give an assessment not of the child’s actions, but move on to characterizing the personality . How often can we talk to a child in a similar vein: “how stupid you are, you can’t do your homework yourself, you need help with everything”; “what a pig you are, you’ve been taken out all over, look (we confirm our words)”; “I’ve done some business here again, clean everything up immediately before I cheat you, bungler.”
Also, the opposite example is when the child is overly praised and extolled at the slightest success. You can read how, when and what to praise for here.

And there are billions of such examples, even sometimes we don’t attach much importance to them, they happen as if by themselves. But a child is still the same sponge that absorbs and absorbs everything.

Also, if a child tried hard, did a craft or drew, he joyfully and with inspiration shows his mother his creation, but the mother, busy with household chores, did not show enough interest. The child is disappointed, he thinks that mom didn’t like it, and the incentive for further creativity is lost if this happens regularly.

During the school years, the child begins to be evaluated not only by his immediate environment, but also by teachers, coaches and other people. There is a comparison of him with other guys, their attitude towards him. How many friends does he have and whether he has any at all, their relationships. All this leads to the formation of an opinion about oneself.

How to increase self-esteem

Parents are able to contribute to the adequate formation of self-esteem of the child’s personality. Psychologists attach great importance to improving the culture of the population. In this concept they understand the need to treat children with respect, no matter how old they are.

If a child begins to have problems with low self-esteem in preschool age, this can be quickly corrected.

Moms and dads must learn to support their child in everything. Especially when he has a need to do something himself. Naturally, if it does not threaten his health or life. It is important to make him start believing in himself. Constantly repeat that he will definitely succeed, and if something goes wrong, he can always turn to loved ones for support.

Here are some tips to help boost your little one's self-esteem.

React positively to everything your child is interested in. For example, when he starts talking about what he wants to become when he grows up, be sure to support him. Tell him that he will definitely become a brilliant dancer, singer, driver or artist. It doesn’t matter what business he chooses (the preference will change more than once). It is important that he feels supported by his parents. Then he will develop a need to achieve his goal, to go towards his dream.
Be sincerely happy and praise your child when he achieves success. I brought home a good drawing and received an excellent grade.
Don’t get tired of repeating that you believe in him, love him and are proud of him.
If you give something, remember that now he will consider this thing his. Don’t you dare take it away, don’t claim your rights because you bought it with the money you earned.
If a trusting relationship has been formed, encourage your child to share the failures and difficulties he faces. Together with him, analyze what caused the problem, how it developed, and what can be done to fix it. Discuss what ways he personally sees to improve the situation. In this case, the baby will feel trust and closeness. He will know where he can always find support.
In some situations, ask him to advise you something. When the relationship is built correctly, the child will express his opinion, formulating his position. Listen to him carefully, thank him so that he understands that you respect his position. He must feel that he is considered an equal, his opinion has weight.