As teachers, we love our students so much it hurts. I can say unwaveringly that you build up each child in your classroom with positive affirmations and encouragement many times every day. With all the love we have for our kids, it’s incredibly jarring when they don’t always share that self love for themselves.
There are simple routines and activities we can weave into the daily rituals of our classroom that can strengthen self esteem and self love for kids. Whether you teach little ones or big kids, its never too early or too late to start with self love. These are essential themes to keep embedding in everyday life so they become commonplace and typical, healthy behavior for children.
Evidence and Research
In 1988, Claude Steele published a study coining the “self-affirmation theory”. This theory has led to mountains of powerful neuroscientific research. This brain research’s goal to see if any noticeable changes occurred in the brain when we say affirmations. Did you know that there is actual MRI evidence that shows certain neural pathways are increased in the prefrontal cortex when people practice self-affirmations?! I know as teachers we have enough anecdotal evidence to allot for the NEED for these positive words. However, we love data, right? This research supports the incredible need for daily affirmations in our students lives. Additionally, this is great information to share with caregivers to make positive affirmations at home more of a routine!
Daily Affirmations
Self-talk can be one of the biggest struggles for children when times get tough. When an academic activity becomes a challenge or when a student feels left out of a group, often inner dialogue isn’t so kind. Frontloading that self-talk from the beginning of the day can help get the self love started. Quick, recited affirmations as a part of the morning routine can be such a simple yet powerful way to foster self love.
Consider adding these positive affirmation coloring journals into your classroom daily routine!
Affirmations to Use
If you’re not a teacher that uses this language frequently, not to worry. Positive affirmations should match what you’re doing and encouraging in the classroom. If students are facing a schedule change, you can have them repeat, “I can be a flexible thinker!” If students are about to begin a new math assignment, you can have them say, “I will persevere through tricky problems!” Need more affirmations to try? Check out this blog post for 10 empowering and powerful affirmations for kids. They’re all great for everyday use across the age span.
Specific Praise
It’s easy to slip into saying, “Good job!” or “Nice work,” to kids, and sometimes, that’s better than nothing. Offering really specific praise to students can help them to see the unique characteristics that you see in them. When coloring, you could say, “Wow, I see how you’re taking such careful time with each detail. You’re so artistic!” If your child misses catching a ball in PE, try saying, “Almost caught it! I see that you had your body ready. Let’s keep trying!”
Affirming Books
Reading books that normalize self love helps to empower children to see that this is a healthy way to view themselves. There are so many wonderful books that help offer affirming words and phrases to give children some new language. Some books I recommend include This Could Be You by Cindy Williams Schrauben, Being Me From A to Z by Lauren Kukla, All the Ways to be Smart by Devina Bell, and I Will Be Fierce! By Bea Birdsong.
While self love can be a hard concept to embrace with children, us teachers can make it a point to emphasize this skill. We love our students so much that it hurts. Let’s help them love themselves, too.
