This is one of my goals… to be better at praising. I tend to say “good job!” or “I love it!” all the time. Which is fine, but I can do much better.
Children benefit from more specific praise, such as:
“Wow, look at all the colors you used in your drawing!”
“That was hard work and you didn’t give up, you kept trying!”
“I saw you helping your brother *kiss on forehead*”
I also need to be better at priasing behavior and effort. For example:
“Thank you for being quiet as a mouse during Daddy’s business call.”
“I noticed you patiently waiting your turn.”
“I can tell you tried very hard and took your time making this.”
Viewing your child’s artwork is a great way to practice better praise. Look for specific things to compliment and praise the time in which they took to create it. Also, try not to say “what is that?” Instead, you can say “tell me about this” and allow your child to describe the picture for you. This is also a great way to open up the conversation to more specific praise. If they explain that this is grandma baking cookies, you can say “I like how you drew Grandma doing one of her favorite things. Let’s call her and tell her about it!”
