The 10 most useful approaches to praise your child

by Aurangzeb Khalid Marketing

Praise is described as the way of showing your approval and likeness towards a certain behavior or act. If you like the way you children, you should praise them to enforce that behavior. Parents can encourage and praise their children at any age as it nurtures a child’s confidence and self-esteem. Rewards can be used to reinforce a particular behavior but it is crucial not to overuse it as it can lead to many other problems.

When it comes to parenting, praising is just not confined to boost self-esteem as parents are entitled to shape the children's behaviors and attitudes as well. Praise can be used to make the children understand which behaviors are socially acceptable and admired. It has a profound effect on the children’s perspective so they would feel empowered and motivated. It also fuels their desire to find ways to overcome challenges.

However, from many approaches to praise, certain ways are more useful than others and can help to reinforce positive behaviors. Research shows that some ways of praising can backfire and make children doubt their abilities.

Types of praise:

There are two major types of praise which are personal praise and effort-based praise.

Personal Praise:

It focuses on praising the natural abilities and talents of the children. Personal praise is all about praising the inborn tendencies of children but be very aware of this kind of praise it can make the children feel less motivated. If children think that he has prepackaged abilities and talents they are likely to think that they do not need to polish their skills. Such children are less likely to take risks and try out new things which can refrain from developing a growth mindset.

Effort Based Praise:

It tends to focus on the thing that children can control on their own. Like how much time one should spend on a particular task and it is more empowering than personal praise. This type of praise is important to encourage the efforts of the students to get better in something they want to achieve to boost their confidence to try out new things and explore new ideas.

Approaches to Praise your Children:

While praising your child’s efforts and abilities, parents should follow these approaches and try to:

Be Specific rather than General:

Rather than giving a general comment, parents should be very specific in terms of conveying their comments and thoughts to their children. For example, if the child was patient while being in the queue at a store for so long, rather than just saying that you were very good in the store make a detailed comment that thanks for being patient while being in the line for so long. This will make the child feel encouraged and motivated to perform that certain positive behavior again.

Sincere Praise:

Try to be very sincere while praising your children, you should not convey made up remarks and try to praise the children for their genuine efforts. Praising without a reason can hurt the children’s perception as they might think that they are not able to do any good that's why they are being praised to feel motivated.

Descriptive Praise:

It is crucial to be clear and descriptive while commenting on the child’s effort as it will make them understand that their efforts are being noticed and praised. For example rather than saying what a nice drawing the parents can make a comment that is more of descriptive nature such as your drawing looks fantastic, have you opted for a different coloring technique. It's more realistic, and it helps kids understand what they’re working on getting better at.

Progress Centered Praise:

The parent should convey their remarks on their children’s progress by telling how their skills are getting better. It will make them feel accomplished and motivated at the same time. For Example, I can see that you have been practicing drawing. That is why you have made it far more excellent than the previous one.’

Make them aware of their Actions:

The parent should make the children aware of how their actions can affect another person. They should praise them for helping others and even in the household chores. That makes them feel that their contribution matters and is significant enough.

Praise them for sharing their Feelings:

Parents should encourage their children to share their feelings and emotions and should help them to identify their accomplishments and emotions. For example, if a student shows good progress in math class you should encourage him to showcase their feelings. For example, parents should mention that you should feel proud that you have achieved such good marks.

Be selective while praising your child:

While you praise your child for showcasing and maintaining good behavior, you should be aware of the fact that you don't overdo it. Be Selective while praising your child so its value won't diminish over time.

Avoid Criticising:

Avoid direct criticism as it can demotivate the child and can lead to lower confidence and self-esteem. Try finding ways to tell your child how he can improve and do better. Rather than making direct negative comments parents should opt for a way to deliver a message quite leniently.

Accentuate positivity:

It is quite important to accentuate positive behavior and reduce negativity, for example rather than asking your children not to do a thing in a certain way, they can mention that you have done it that way but what if we try another more interesting way to do the same task.

Make it about them:

The ultimate goal of parenting is to make your children able for self-evaluation. Rather than waiting for other people's praise, children should know their worth that they can achieve their goals.

Thus Praise can encourage a variety of good behaviors. Catch your child being good and point it out. Positive reinforcement will encourage it to continue.