Self Esteem

What is self esteem? It’s an idea of one’s self-worth. Do you feel good about yourself or bad? about how you look? how you are? where you live? what you wear? The feeling good is the intrinsic part, the latter is extrinsic meaning it’s how you perceive others view you.

The renowned psychologist, Marc Brackett, Director of Yale center for emotional intelligence, uses a visual to explain this. It’s called the” mood meter”.
This emotional intelligence is established in the early years of life. Early on a child must know that I am worthy, I matter, I make a difference. Self esteem is like an emotional immune system to be nourished and fed properly by the parents or caregivers from an early age. Observing and meeting the child where the child is developmentally, with loving observation and a non-judgmental view  is a good way to start. Therefore, to guide a child with gentle words, knowing your own thresholds, knowledge about the development of a child’s brain at different ages and stages of growth, is very useful in developing a good self-esteem. It does not mean you don’t say no but the words to redirect can be very different. It takes training and practice to develop these habits of gentleness in ourselves first, it requires true presence, to get down to a child’s level, make an eye contact, Basically showing respect, no matter how old Is the child. The famous educators , including Maria Montessori, John Dewey, Jean Piaget, Paulo Freire, Loris Malaguzzi, founders of different approach of learning like Montessori, Highscope and Reggio Emelia all emphasize on self-esteem. We can learn a great deal from these influential educators.