Personality

Knowing Your Child’s Personality

How well do you know your own child? Why is it important to know your child’s personality? Your child possesses a combination of traits, some which you understand and can deal with easily and some that might take more energy to manage. Either way your child has his or her own personality traits. 

Personality Children might show a mix of traits – sometimes being very adventurous and bold and other times careful and shy. Understanding your child’s personality traits starts with knowing what characterises your child more often.  Would you say he is mostly adventurous or mostly cautious?

An overly energetic and adventurous child might keep his parents on their toes more often but a child who is too timid and shy might also cause a parent some concern at their ability to cope with others and get on with the challenges of life.

How a child uses his inborn traits — whether those will be strengthened or subdued — will be influenced throughout his childhood by three or four factors:

  1. Relationships. Your relationship with your child will have a greater impact on him than that of any other person, so do all you can to nurture him. Also seek to help him develop mutually uplifting relations with siblings, grandparents, friends, uncles, aunts and others.
  2. The way he is educated. Be involved in your child’s education to ensure that your child’s school and classroom is suited to him. It is important to have conversations with your child’s teacher to be sure that the teacher recognises your child’s personality traits and builds up strengths while encouraging him to overcome weaknesses.
  3. The environment in which he lives. Make sure your household provides your child a rich environment and this is not referring to the material comfort. Two children with similar personalities — one of whom isn’t appreciated or encouraged and another who is supported while he explores his interests and passions — will respond differently to life.
  4. Trauma in early childhood.  Trauma can make it difficult to separate the innate character traits from those that have evolved out of fear of punishment.  In a healthy home, a child’s strongest traits generally will follow him from infancy through adulthood.

Effects of your child’s personality traits will impact

  • how he relates to other people,
  • how he deals with problems,
  • how he organises his thoughts and carries out tasks, and
  • what interests and motivates him.

In other words, becoming familiar with your child’s personality will go a long way toward helping you understand why your child acts the way she does. At the same time, the more intimately you get to know a child, the more you will find that he cannot be stereotyped and summed up by just one personality type. Yet children often reveal strengths and weaknesses in clusters that seem familiar. And familiarity can breed greater understanding.

Spend time getting to understand and know your child’s personality traits so that it is easier to guide the child to strengthen their weaknesses and harness their strength.

Culled from focusonthefamily.com
photo source: babble.com
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