But first of all, what is self-esteem? It is a belief that we belong and are accepted, strong and capable and loved.

You want your child to form positive beliefs, to find positive ways to belong, don't you? It is much easier for you to have that if your child has strong self-esteem. In fact, self-esteem is important for all of us, both children and adults.

Unfortunately many people in this world are having weak self-esteem which holds them back in their personal development and growth. And if that is serious enough, it leads to crime and many social and family problems.

Browse through any newspaper and count the number of negative news you can find there and you will see what I mean. For example, people beating up each other, killing one another, stealing, robbing, committing suicide etc. Often, the root of all these problems is deal to poor self-esteem.

Positive self-esteem helps us to handle life in a more positive way. It helps us get through problems.

You may have heard this before: 'A person's character is almost fully formed by the age of 6.' And I agree fully with it. It is extremely important for parents to help their children build positive self-esteem, characters and belief in their self worth during their early years of life.

Show Respect

One way to help build your children's self-esteem is through respect. Respect yourself and respect your children. In doing this, you show your child how to treat you and others with regards.

Respect Yourself

Children often learn by observing their parents' behavior. When come to educating children, it is not what parents say but what they do in daily life will have a greater impact to their children development. Hence when you respect yourself, you child has an example to follow. There are a number of ways to build you own self-respect. You will want to:

Develop your own interests and goals.

Use your sense of humor

Take time for yourself

Learn what you are good at.

Notice your efforts, not just your achievements.

Remember that you are worthwhile just because you are you, not because you are a good mom or dad.

Have a positive mindset about yourself and others.

Know that you will make parenting mistakes and that you child will not hold anything against you.

Help Your Child Learn Respect

Young children do not naturally show respect for others. Normally, they think only about themselves. I am sure you have heard your young children say things like:

'That's mine!'

'I don't want others to take the book. I want to read it by myself.'

How To Teach Respect?

Be considerate. Show that you love and value your child. Consider your child's feeling:

'You look unhappy today my dear. Would you like to tell me what has happened?'

'I was just thinking about you in the office just now. I am so happy to see you at home.'

'I know you're sad because you didn't get what to hope to achieve for your test. Can I give you a hug? And would you like to talk about it?'

Recognize and appreciate your child's uniqueness, achievements and efforts. Take notice of the special things about your child:

'What a happy and cheerful laugh that I have just heard! You like to tell me about it?'

'You write so well today. Just compare this with your previous work here. Wow! There's a great improvement, isn't it?'

'You have so much strength nowadays. Do you mind to help Papa to carry this bag of groceries?'

Support your child's interest. Take an interest in what you child enjoys doing:

'I know you like to be a doctor when you grow up. Let's go to the library and borrow more books about human bodies and nutrition. Shall we?'

'You like to paint. Shall we draw something so that you can use the poster color and brush to paint?'

Offer your child with choices. Letting your child choose and decide help to encourage positive power and decision making skill:

'Which dress would you like to wear today? The pink or the white one?'

'We are all hungry now. What'd you want to eat for dinner?'

Help your child learn from mistakes. Mistakes are good to help children learn if they are not something too serious. Parents must learn to accept that making mistakes is part of their learning process. Mistakes help children grow and become stronger.

Do you remember how your child learns to walk? She fell and probably knocked her head many time before she could walked by herself. Did you scold her for falling down while learning how to walk? No, right? So why should you scold or punish your child if she does not do something quite right in other areas of learning?

Learn to accept that it is perfectly normal for your child to make mistakes in her learning and your child will become better. In fact, it is abnormal to expect children to always get things done in the right way without making mistakes. Don't you think so?

'Your rice got spilled out from your bowl. I'm sure next time you'll know that you must be more careful. Let's clean it up with this cloth.'

'When papa was at your age, I couldn't even count yet. You are so much better than me. I am sure with a little practice and being more careful, you will get all the sums right.'
About the Author

Article by Alvin Poh, founder of Learning Champ, a parenting wesbite that provides information and resources to parents, who want to help their children develop the important skills and mind set for a brighter future -> http://www.learningchamp.com