Words of Encouragement are essential if we want our children to achieve feelings of adequacy and self-satisfaction within themselves.  We want our children to function in life as effective human beings who positively affect others.  This is only possible if the child believes in themself.  Encouragement sets the tone for acceptance of the child by the parents.  It focuses on the childs strengths but not on winning or success.  It only takes a few moments to say an encouraging word or to give intentional praise for something the child said or did well.  There are several ways that a parent can be delibrate about encou

Richard Bach Encouragement Quote: "What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly." ~ Richard Bach   Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today. —James Dean    Anonymous Encouragement Poem: "When things go wrong as they sometimes will, When the road you're trudging seems all up hill, When the funds are low and the debts are high And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest if you must, but don't you quit. Life is queer with its twists and turns, As every one of us sometimes learns, And many a failure turns about When he might have won had he stuck it out; Don't give up though the pace seems slow-- You may succeed with another blow, Success is failure turned inside out-- The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, And you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems so far; So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-- It's when things seem worst that you must not quit." ~ Unknown NEVER BORROW SORROW FROM TOMORROW   Deal only with the present, Never step into tomorrow, For God asks us just to trust Him And to never borrow sorrow ~ For the future is not ours to know And it may never be, So let us live and give our best And give it lavishly ~ For to meet tomorrow's troubles Before they are even ours Is to anticipate the Savior And to doubt His all-wise powers ~ So let us be content to solve Our problems one by one, Asking nothing of tomorrow Except "Thy will be done."                              ~Helen Steiner Rice

raging their children.

1.  Use words that build your child's self-esteem and feelings of adequacy

2.  Accept your child as he/she is and value them as a person.

3.  Believe in your child so they can believe in themselves.

4.  Give your child experiences.  Give them a chance to succeed and fail then use those experiences as training tools to help them build self-confidence and understanding.

5.  Give specific praise such as "I saw you share your toys with your friend without complaining.  I am proud of you."