Here’s One Way to Help Your Child Become Confident

How do you help your child gain confidence? One way is to enrol him/her in a dance class.

Dance classes and performances (especially in group settings) can help your child develop his/her self esteem. After all, confidence can come from being exposed to different environments, meeting different people and trying a lot of things (as well as failing and making mistakes).

How mistakes build confidence

As parents, we want our children to be safe. It’s especially the case in Sydney and other developed places where both physical and mental threats are present. We don’t want them to get hurt or go through pain and humiliation. However, being too safe can take away their thirst and willingness to try new things. They become conditioned to playing it safe and avoiding progress and changes. This then limits their opportunities for growth especially during formal schooling, professional living and beyond.

Although success is a great motivator, failure is still crucial because children will learn early on that it’s all right to make mistakes and to take risks. They will learn that they can deal with mistakes and problems as they come. They will learn to become confident whether the times are good or bad. Playing it too safe and not allowing your child to take dance classes or explore new things and environments will result in shyness, weakness and lack of resilience. Even a single minor failure could be enough to devastate your child in his/her later years.

How dancing can help your child

Toddler dance classes in Sydney as well as performances here and overseas can help your child better deal with mistakes and failures. After all, getting the movements right requires lots of corrections, feedback and repetitive practice. Several mistakes are guaranteed before your child can get the routine right (whether it’s ballet, tap dance or musical theatre). Your child will learn early on that mistakes are normal and they’re pretty easy to deal with. Your child will also see how other children make mistakes. He/she will better realise that mistakes are normal and everyone can deal with them.

Dancing will also help your child get to know and get along with other children (which is great for their social and communication skills). In addition, dance classes can lead to performance opportunities here and overseas. Children get exposed to various environments and they see more of the world at an early age. Their possibilities and horizons will expand whether they pursue professional dancing or not. And yes, performing in front of a crowd will also expand their comfort zone. They could then easily use that same confidence whether speaking in front of a large crowd or when just playing with classmates and peers. They will become comfortable being with other people and they will gain the necessary confidence to be prepared for formal schooling and beyond.