Many parents are concerned with protecting and developing their child's positive sense of self-worth and self-esteem. How children feel about themselves is important to their functioning, but how children come to feel good feelings about themselves is just as important.

Praise and reward behaviors and accomplishments that are above and beyond what was expected, and/or to acknowledge completing a challenging task.
Providing positive feedback and praise to your child is great but, believe it or not, making sure they have really earned it is just as critical. In the interest of "protecting" a child's feelings, we can fall into the bad habit of praising children in an exaggerated way for very average or expected behaviors. When we praise, thank or reward a child for doing something that we should expect of them (ex: "Thank you for finishing your homework; you've earned a special dessert"), we help him/her maintain lower standards of behavior or achievement.

Letting your child live with the consequences of his actions – positive and negative – will support the motivation, understanding and intellectual growth needed to continue to make good/better choices.
Saving your child from negative consequences or uncomfortable situations robs him/her of the opportunity to build coping skills and a sense of personal responsibility. Ignoring or covering up a child's mistakes or weaknesses sends confusing messages about perfectionism and robs a child of the opportunity to improve.

Nurture talents in which your child shows a sincere interest.
Allowing your child to choose and to follow interests and activities that he/she has chosen can be very empowering. It's normal to want to encourage a child to follow their talents, but forcing a child to continue to pursue an activity that they clearly no longer enjoy is a recipe for resentment and boredom, not good feelings about oneself.

A child's good feelings and positive self-esteem are built upon an accurate assessment of her/his true accomplishments and strengths as well as the pursuit of her/his genuine interests – this is something that we can all support!