In the early days, girls are often the early talkers, the social butterflies, the best students. However, somewhere between preschool and secondary school, girls can be confused or overwhelmed by school and societal pressures and become shy or timid. So, what can mums do to help prevent this? Here are our top ten tips:
Encourage her to be more assertive
Teach your daughter to learn how to communicate what she needs to adults and teach her how to say no to her peers.
Give her a specific compliment
When you compliment your daughter, it will stay with her longer if you give her a definite example. Tell her, "Wow, that’s a really great story you wrote for class or you are really good at playing football”. This way she will grow up knowing what her strengths are.
Make your praise realistic
A seven year old will know that she isn’t a musical genius or better than anyone else in the whole world at playing tennis. However, she will appreciate if you compliment her on how much she has improved over a period of time.
Encourage her to be competent
Try not to always rush in and help your child with their homework or chores. If she wants help, ask her to try working on it for a few more minutes on her own first.
Explain to her why everybody gets left out of things sometimes
Explain to your daughter that it’s not personal if she doesn’t get an invite to every single birthday party or get asked to join every game. Explain that every time a child says “You can’t be my friend” or “I don’t want to play with you,” it also probably isn’t personal. That child is probably upset about something.
Don’t simply assume what she is and isn’t good at
Just because you have a girl, don’t assume she won’t be any good at maths and that she will excel in languages. Your daughter is unique.
Encourage a healthy body image
If your daughter asks is she pretty, it goes without saying that you should answer with a resounding and very enthusiastic “Yes”. When you praise her appearance, praise her actions too.
Encourage her to pursue an interest in sports
Girls have so many more opportunities to play sports nowadays, so if she wants to play sports then giver her as much encouragement as she needs.
Prepare her for sexism
Even in today’s society there are some people that think girls can’t do the same things that boys can. It’s important that you reinforce the idea that girls can do everything just as well as boys and this should never hold her back.
Point out positive female role models
Take advantage of opportunities to point out women who are good role models, whether they are athletes, politicians or businesswomen.
