How to build learning confidence

Confidence is key when it comes to learning and overcoming challenges. Building confidence in children can help them become resilient and learn from mistakes. As children get older, they are often faced with more challenges and in order to thrive, maintaining confidence is a must. It is through learning from role models, celebrating wins and successes, experiencing mastery, and rebounding from failure that children develop learning confidence. Read on to discover 4 ways you can help your child build learning confidence.

1. Reward and celebrate your child

Celebrations and acknowledgements make hard work worthwhile. Rewarding children with incentives and acknowledgement, such as certificates and awards, is a simple way to celebrate their efforts and accomplishments. Celebrating academic success and achievements builds confidence in students and encourages them to continue striving towards their learning goals. Help your child build learning confidence by celebrating their successes and give them the encouragement they need to keep striving.

2. Understanding challenges and difficulties

We know that children look up to adults and our actions and behaviours are reflected in theirs. It is important to demonstrate positive and motivating attitudes, while supporting children in every way we can. Having a role model or mentor who understands challenges and is invested and passionate about their academic success helps children develop learning confidence. It helps children feel accepted and understood for who they are and removes any limiting beliefs. If your child is struggling, NumberWorks’nWords offers after-school tutoring with expert tutors who act as mentors and help children gain confidence in their learning.

3. Allow room for mistakes

Learning not to give up after failure or setbacks is an important part of building confidence. Confidence is not about succeeding at everything; instead, it is about being resilient enough to keep trying and never giving up. It is natural to want to protect our children from failure, but trial and error is important for children to experience and learn from. Mistakes and failure teach and encourage them to create new ways of accomplishing a goal. If your child makes a mistake in some way, such as getting a question wrong on their maths homework, allow them to feel the emotions of disappointment and remind them of their strengths and encourage them to try again. Help your child see that it is normal to make mistakes and reassure them that it is a part of life.

4. Set clear learning goals

Teaching children to set clear learning goals is fundamental to their confidence. Articulating clear learning goals, whether small or large, gives children a good sense of direction, and in the case where goals are achieved, the experience boosts their strength and confidence.
Help your child set some learning goals. You might set small goals as benchmarks to begin with. Accomplishing a small goal at first will allow them to experience a boost of confidence, while fostering a positive attitude towards achievement and success.

Confidence enables children to succeed throughout their learning journey and helps them handle setbacks and continue to strive. Having support and encouragement is important for children, as it helps them feel confident. If you feel that your child lacks confidence or you’ve identified gaps in their learning, tutoring with NumberWorks’nWords could be a good fit. Our maths and English tutoring programmes focus on helping students achieve their learning goals, while building confidence and celebrating success. Get in touch with your local centre, or book a free assessment today!