Childs Self Confidence

J.,
My son too, is having the confidence problem. He is such a perfectionist anyway (when he doesn't do it right the first time he will never try again), he is so hard on himself. My son wants nothing to do with group sports, but I have found that activities that are class oriented but teach one-on-one are best for him. Golf, tennis, art classes, tumbling, etc. My little guy is actually going in class discussions! Good luck to you and your son.

F.

I just emailed our local young marines group for more information also. Here is the website link for the young Marines

http://www.youngmarines.com/New_site_06/mysite/aboutus.htm

Hello J.. I'm going through some of this with my 6 yr.old. I can only suggest to keep doing what your doing. Also, try projects you can do with him that gives him a sense of accomplishment. Praise all the wonderful joy he brings to you and others. Good luck!!

Hello J.. My oldest two children have to ride the bus this year for the first time and our seven y/o (almost 8) is having problems with other children making fun of not only her, but her brothers. She gets just as upset when the kids pick on her as she does when they pick on her younger or older brother. Over the weekend she was very upset b/c of something that was said about her on the bus Friday. My husband talked to her about it (a boy called her a "retard") and discussed how she knew she was smart and has good grades. He then told her that the other kids make fun of her b/c they are jealous of how smart she is and by making fun of her makes them feel better. He told her to ask the kids why it makes them feel better to make fun of her. Hope that helps.

Hi J.,

I too have a 9 year old son and now a 15 1/2 month old daughter. My son has been an only child for 8 years, so I can relate to the unsure feelings. If you haven't done so already, enroll your son in a sports program...UPWARD is an awesome Christian sports program for kids his age. My son is in the Basketball program at this time. He is doing very well, and getting better the more he plays. They also have football and soccer which I think will be starting up in early spring.(www.upward.com) Find something that he may be interested in, bowling, karate, boyscouts, he needs a team sport that will test his abilities, which of course will improve the more he plays, and the better he will become. Make sure he stays committed. Don't let him quit! If you belong to a church, check out the kids program...do they do outings, or activities?
One of the guys at our church just organized a bowling outing for the anyone in the church who wanted to attend...we had 33 total(adult & children) that attended, even the pastor came...we had a blast! Myself & another mother will be getting a canoe trip together in the early fall. If you don't have a church family, please find one! They are so important in the growth of our children.
I will be getting some information about a program for boys ages 8 to 18...called Young Marines. I'm not sure where you are located, but I can send you the information once I get it, if your son is like mine who likes the Armed Forces...my husband was a Marine, so of course this is "COOL". If you want to know more send me an email & I will let you know what I find out. Keep doing what you are doing...don't give up!
God's Blessings to you.

My son is younger, 5 -- but I have had the same concerns about him -- he is VERY sensitive. I have him in Gymnastics and Karate and it realy seams to be helping -- I would suggest a GOOD marital arts school, one that focuses on improving on yourself, and doing your best -- not competitions or sparting other students.

This one came highly recomened to me www.darimar.com
My son is in the pre-school classes at www.ullomsmartialarts.com/1.htm
But I know nothing about their classes for older kids

good luck!

Have you tried getting him into a youth group at church? Or the boys and girls club, YMCA. Even volunteering at an animal shelter helping with clean up and care of the animals. Sometimes if you can distract them from what they think are their short comings and give them an environment to help others people, animals, senior citizens, they can forget about that and start feeling good about themselves for helping and then those cruel words don't hurt nearly as much.