May 9, 2022
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Kids and Compliments

Kids & Compliments

Praise is a powerful tool! Effective praise improves a child’s self-confidence and willingness to try hard things before asking for help or giving up. When we compliment and encourage, we are actually modeling words for a child’s own future positive thinking and self-talk!

For a child, the most meaningful compliment is:

Immediate, within a few seconds or minutes (depending on age)
Specific to what the child did
Sincere, given with body language that matches your words
Based on effort and process, not just the final result

Examples:

Name and describe the exact behavior you like and want to see again –

I saw you sharing your toy with your sister. She had a happy smile when you did that!
Thank you for coming to the table when I asked.
I saw you waiting for your turn on the swing even though you really wanted to be first. You waited until someone got off the swing and then got your turn!
You put all your books back on the shelf. Thank you for doing what I asked.

Notice effort and persistence –

You spent a lot of time on that! I can see you were working so carefully.
You never gave up even though that was very hard. Great job finishing!
You are really challenging yourself and trying lots of things without giving up. What else can you try?

Try encouraging by stating facts or excitedly describing what the child did –