Building self-esteem in our kids can be accomplished in a variety of ways, but one of our Reading Tricks teachers shares a simple way of intentionally doing so by purposefully letting our kids overhear our conversations. Rather than talking about our kids’ struggles and learning differences in a way that makes them feel insecure, let’s have conversations they can overhear where we are talking about their strengths and gifts. We could mention their abilities in sports, music, or art; or we could even make specific comments about growth in areas they struggle with, i.e., hard work or improvement in their reading, writing, handwriting, sound recognition, etc. Either way, we want our kids to overhear us complimenting and praising their strengths and hard work. Kids so often hear enough negative comments from peers and sometimes even adults. Let’s make it a point to let them start overhearing the good stuff!

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