Confidence is a strong feeling which, if one possesses, can be able to execute a given task successfully. It’s an incredibly inspiring source of knowledge, strength and achievement.

If you attempt to trace any academic success and intellectual abilities of most great thinkers in the world today, confidence is the power behind their victories. As far as your child is concerned, attaining confidence especially with teachers in class can be easy and fascinating if you apply the following steps:

Teach your child good listening skills. A good speaker is a good listener and since asking questions requires speaking, a great deal of content comprehension and interpretation will be well facilitated if effective listening occurred in the first place. This helps a child to identify an area where they haven’t understood well or to explore abstract ideas which enhances his confidence and intellectual development.

Often try to encourage and praise the child as being intelligent, capable and potentially promising while highlighting the critical areas of weakness that need improvement. This can be achieved by asking relevant questions to the teacher during class lessons. It will help to suppress the child’s feeling of inferiority complex and inculcate new pride of self discovery and boost his level of confidence.

The implications of child self confidence in interacting with his teachers is overwhelmingly rewarding and therefore as a parent you should be innovative enough to initiate home ventures like discussions and debates preferably in a language which is used as a medium of communication in school while giving forum to the child to ask questions and provide meaningful answers to them.

The more a child feels free to ask questions, the more he gets acquainted to doing so both at home and in class with teachers but great emphasis should be put on ensuring positive attitude and respect for teachers in order to maintain a teacher-learner relationship required for any effective learning.    

The writer is a counsellor

Your Debate

Peter King Oloo

Let your child know the advantages of asking questions in class and how it can help her grasp the content very well. This will eventually increase her confidence in class and expand his/her knowledge base.

Paula Nankunda

Your child will gain confidence if you train them to do so. Teach them to ask intelligent questions that require critical thinking. This will compel your child to read more.

Bate Amon

Create time in the evenings specifically to talk to your child. You could for instance call that time "tell me” or "my day in school”. Instead of asking a general question, ask a specific question.

Amos Yego

First train your child to have the courage to ask you questions both about school and personal life. If your child fears to ask you, then it means she won’t pose questions to strangers or a teacher. Constant interaction with your child is the key to this dilemma.