Building Confidence in Kids: A Parent's Guide to Nurturing Resilience

Raising confident children is a common aspiration among parents, and fostering creative confidence can be a powerful tool for preparing kids to face the challenges of the future. This blog post draws inspiration from the founder of KiwiCo, a company dedicated to building creative confidence in children and specialises in STEM subscription boxes for kids. It delves into eight valuable ideas for parents seeking to instill confidence in their children, emphasizing the importance of grit, appreciating the process, nurturing dreamers, exploring different paths, embracing failure, promoting independence, setting a good example, and fostering quality time together.

The Vision for Creative Confidence

KiwiCo celebrates tinkering, experimentation, and diverse outcomes, envisioning a future where kids are equipped with the confidence and curiosity to tackle problems lacking a single correct answer. Given the complexity of the world and the evolving job landscape, fostering creative and confident problem-solvers becomes crucial. Cathy N. Davidson's insights on the potential work scenarios for today's grade-school kids underscore the need for cultivating creativity and confidence to address the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow.

Parenting for Confidence: Eight Key Ideas

At home, the founders of KiwiCo, parents of three, focus on nurturing their children's inner confidence and sense of self. They emphasize the importance of tackling challenges with tenacity and persistence. Eight key parenting ideas emerge from their journey:

1. Encourage Tenacity

• Instill the value of hard work and practice in children.

• Support them in tackling challenges independently, fostering a sense of ownership and accomplishment.

• Share an example of a yearly project where children write and illustrate their own books, highlighting the growth in pride and skills over the years.

1. Appreciate the Process

• Emphasize the importance of valuing the journey and effort, not just the outcome.

• Refer to Stanford professor Carol Dweck's growth mindset, encouraging children to engage in the process of mastering new skills.

• Share an anecdote of children participating in a program to build a carnival game from cardboard, showcasing the rewards of struggle and learning.

1. Develop Dreamers

• Nurture children's innate curiosity and wonder.

• Encourage them to ask questions and tap into their imaginations to solve complex problems.

• Allow freedom for exploration, sharing experiences from exploring interests like static electricity to creating imaginative family games.

1. Explore Different Paths

• Advocate for exploring creative problem-solving and asserting one's point of view.

• Highlight the rewards of family problem-solving, such as finding diverse ways to cross a creek during a hike.

• Emphasize the value of appreciating different approaches and laying the groundwork for innovation.

1. Take the Pain Out of Failures

• Acknowledge that mistakes and failures are part of the growth process.

• Encourage children to take risks, learn from failures, and persist through challenges.

• Share the wisdom of basketball legend Michael Jordan on the importance of failure in achieving success.

• Illustrate the experience of encouraging a child in indoor soccer to try new moves, granting permission to fail and learn.

1. Promote Independence

• Emphasize the importance of children mastering tasks and overcoming failures independently.

• Encourage children to speak for themselves and make their own choices.

• Share an incident at the library where a child had to assert himself to solve an issue, highlighting the connection between independence and confidence.

1. Set a Good Example

• Recognize the influence of parental behavior on children.

• Acknowledge the responsibility of setting a good example, especially in demonstrating a growth mindset.

• Share a personal experience of realizing the need to set a better example, reinforcing the idea of continuous self-improvement.

1. Foster Time Together

• Highlight the importance of spending quality time with children to bolster their confidence.

• Emphasize the value of exploring the world together, demonstrating that children are worth the time and attention.

• Acknowledge the challenges of balancing responsibilities as a CEO and mom but stress the commitment to carving out time for family.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this parenting guide provides actionable ideas for fostering confidence in children. From encouraging tenacity to promoting independence, each point contributes to the overarching goal of nurturing resilient and self-assured individuals. The founders of KiwiCo invite readers to share their experiences and tips, contributing to a collective pool of wisdom in the journey of raising confident kids.