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A Message From our Director
If we look around at people who have had success in life, they are not necessarily the smartest or most talented individuals. Research indicates that the most important determining factor of success is “grit” – the passion and perseverance for long term goals or the degree of effort one is willing to spend over time. Stick-to-it-ness. In fact, many successful individuals have come through a number of significant failures on their way. Carol Dweck, Ph.D., calls this a growth mindset and says: “If parents want to give their children a gift, the best thing they can do is to teach their children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning.”
She offers the following tips for parents from her book, Mindset:
1. Have daily learning discussions. “What did you learn today?” “What mistake did you make that taught you something?” “What did you try hard at today?” It’s really important, says Dweck, that we share what we learned, too. This models for kids that we learn new things every day, even learning from failures. Use comments like “I like how you kept trying until you finished the puzzle” or “let’s see if we can figure this out”.
2. Give feedback on process only. Praise effort and persistence rather than personal abilities like being smart, pretty, or artistic. That can backfire and lead to a loss of confidence since kids won’t be smart at everything. If something is difficult, they may give up easily.
3. Explain how the brain can grow stronger and that intelligence can improve throughout your life. Kids need to know this is possible.
4. Encourage risk, failing, and learning from mistakes. This is how children learn resiliency and to believe in their abilities to work hard and succeed.
5. Encourage and model positive self-talk. Use language like “I can do this if I keep trying” or “I need to practice this some more to get better”.
Let’s get gritty about building “grit”! Until next time……Leslie
She offers the following tips for parents from her book, Mindset:
1. Have daily learning discussions. “What did you learn today?” “What mistake did you make that taught you something?” “What did you try hard at today?” It’s really important, says Dweck, that we share what we learned, too. This models for kids that we learn new things every day, even learning from failures. Use comments like “I like how you kept trying until you finished the puzzle” or “let’s see if we can figure this out”.
2. Give feedback on process only. Praise effort and persistence rather than personal abilities like being smart, pretty, or artistic. That can backfire and lead to a loss of confidence since kids won’t be smart at everything. If something is difficult, they may give up easily.
3. Explain how the brain can grow stronger and that intelligence can improve throughout your life. Kids need to know this is possible.
4. Encourage risk, failing, and learning from mistakes. This is how children learn resiliency and to believe in their abilities to work hard and succeed.
5. Encourage and model positive self-talk. Use language like “I can do this if I keep trying” or “I need to practice this some more to get better”.
Let’s get gritty about building “grit”! Until next time……Leslie
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