At Little Miracles we know the value of praise; it can raise a child’s self-esteem, shape behaviour and overall make a place a happier environment to be in.  We spend a lot of time using a variety of types of praise, we train our staff to understand the value of praise and regularly hold “praise offs” where we practice our different words of praise to help keep a variety of difference praises in the top of our minds. Here are some important things to remember about praise.

• Praise genuinely, you don’t have to go over the top with usual or expected behaviour, an acknowledgement will do but if a child is clearly proud of their accomplishment or should be then praise is warranted.
• Change your praises, use different words, write notes, body language e.g. thumbs up etc.  They all help to show extra care.
• Use the art of complimenting, teach your child to be comfortable giving and receiving compliments.  Eye and body contact during delivery, e.g. touching them on the arm reinforces sincerity.  Children and adults with a low self worth can have difficulty giving and receiving compliments, if you are like that make sure to acknowledge and respond to compliments you receive like ”you’re the best mummy” with “thank you, I like to hear that”. Parent’ self-image directly reflects children’s ability to give and receive compliments comfortably.

Further to the importance of praising and being positive with children is the awareness and need to not be negative (unless if genuinely required). Just as praise will become ignored if used to frequently, children will rarely respond well to constant negativity. Be mindful that most situations can be redirected and shaped with positive language or praise and to try and save negative reactions to serious issues like safety for maximum effect.

As parents your praise will mean more to your child than anyone else’s, you have the power to equip and empower your child for life. As you speak life into them you will be building emotional muscles within them that create their identity. They need to know you believe in them not because of what they do but because of who they are, that is the foundation of your belief in them.

As you praise them simply because you love them and are proud to be their parent, they will see their worth in who they are and not in what they do. No one can take that away from them , they will mess up some times in life but if your praise is based on who they are, when they fall their value doesn’t change and their confidence doesn’t drop.
We will always back you up on this at Little Miracles, our praise for the children comes from our belief in them to have been “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God. We love your child and we endeavour to always value them and believe in their full potential.

Enjoy yourselves praising your precious little ones and give yourselves some praise for the good job you are doing.