Effort is positive and means we are working up to our potential instead of choosing easy things that we know we can do without trying. Sometimes through a genuine desire to see our children happy and successful, we accidentally give them the wrong message about effort.
To help your child build a growth mindset, don’t over focus your praise on perfect scores, especially if these were achieved with little effort. Your children want your approval and if they think perfect scores are what you are most proud of they will gravitate towards easy tasks that will earn your praise. This will actually slow their growth considerably. When we say things like: “Great job, you got perfect without even trying. You’re so smart!” we send our children the message that trying hard means you aren’t as smart. This leads to avoidance of learning situations where they may not be able to achieve perfection.
Instead, praise them when they put in a lot of effort, perseverance, and when they take on tasks that are just above their ability level. This will help their brains grow quickly, accelerate their learning, and build a growth mindset.
Featured image by Eepeng Cheong on Unsplash.