Girls at around 8 or 9 years old may start to experience influences on their self-confidence and self-esteem from sources outside their family, including from peers at school and the mass media. Fortunately, there are ways parents can help their little girl remain self-confident or raise her self-confidence by putting her in different classes.
Etiquette Classes
- The study of etiquette can help raise a young girl's confidence and self-esteem. Etiquette is the customs or rules which determine appropriate behavior in society. Etiquette classes or finishing schools teach girls everything from conversation skills to walking gracefully. The skills they learn not only show girls appropriate ways to behave, but also give them a sense of self-confidence about their behavior.
Gymnastics Classes
- Gymnastics is a physical sport option for girls. While it starts as young as one or two years old in some gymnastics facilities, the classes for girls who are eight years old or older often put a focus on movement and body awareness as well as physical activity. This body awareness approach helps girls not only learn to move with grace, but also helps them accept their body, which improves their self-confidence.
Self-Defense Classes
- Girls who take self-defense classes are not only better able to defend themselves in the event of an attack or emergency situation, but are also more self-confident. Self-defense classes may be available through schools, youth centers or community centers. As a result of self-defense classes, girls learn to be more aware of their surroundings and their intuitions, which results in more self-confidence. Learn Self Defense Moves, a website dedicated to self defense, points out that self-confidence comes not only from learning the defense moves but also from learning a new skill and becoming proficient in the skills.
All-Girl Classes in School
- Girls' self-confidence can plummet in co-ed schools for a variety of reasons, from peer considerations like wanting to fit in with the popular girls rather than emphasizing academics, to finding that boys gain more attention from teachers in their classes. The National Association for Single Sex Public Education points out that students can be more successful in all-girls' schools if teachers implement the program appropriately. All-girl classrooms allow girls to move at their own pace and allow teachers to incorporate teaching styles designed around the ways girls think and learn. The NASSPE reported a study by Stetson University in Florida researchers that showed girls' scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test were 59 percent proficient in co-ed classes and 75 percent proficient in girls-only classes.
