A growth mindset is considered an essential tool to achieve happiness and success in life. If you want your child to be in a position to succeed later on in life, it is important to start teaching them this mindset at a young age. If your child knows that they are capable of achieving great things, then it is easy for them to make that happen. Make sure you discover how to inculcate the growth mindset in kids.
Benefits of Growth Mindset in Kids
First things first, what is a growth mindset? It’s essentially the belief in one’s abilities and potential.
When your child has this mindset, it will impact their decision and actions in life. It is also a mindset that helps your intelligence level and abilities to improve with the right strategy. It is opposite to the fixed mindset that looks at intelligence and abilities as something that cannot be changed or developed.
The following are some of the benefits of developing a growth mindset in kids:
- Enhanced brain development
- Better relationships with those around them
- Higher performance
- Ability to perform a wide range of tasks
- Lower stress and anxiety
- Takes more personal risks
- Higher determination to reach goals
Strategies to Develop a Growth Mindset in Kids
Want to teach your child to develop the growth mindset? These are some of the strategies that you can use to instill this mindset.
Let Your Child be Wrong
It is not uncommon for educators and parents to want to teach their child to be perfect. In fact, most children are taught to fear failure at an early age. But this is opposed to the idea of developing the growth mindset.
The right approach is to make your child feel free to make mistakes. Letting them adopt this mindset makes them brave enough to take on a new challenge. This process will let them discover on their own what works – and what doesn’t.
Give Them Problems to Solve
Problem-solving will teach your kids a great deal of essential life skills. And one of them is the growth mindset. There are certain problems that require several steps to complete. The rigorous steps involved in solving a problem are vital in improving your child’s ability to analyze their thoughts and possible solutions.
Instead of asking your child to give up easily and ask the teacher to show them how to do it, encourage them to figure it out on their own, no matter how long it takes. Let them try out different ways to do something until they arrive at a solution.
Encourage Them to Try Out New Ideas
Exploring new ideas can help your child’s brain grow and their creativity to flourish. By exploring new ideas, they are also able to see things in new and various ways. This will encourage them to look to various resources for help or answers to certain problems as they grow older.
Praise Them for Their Effort
Some children can be easily frustrated when they do not succeed at doing something or solving a problem. You need to help them overcome this frustration by showing your appreciation for their effort. Brains are like muscles. They can strengthen over time with persistence and hard work. Make sure you praise your child when they make an effort to do something, even if the outcome is not as desired.
Don’t praise them for their characteristics, such as being smart. Praise them instead for the effort that they put into something. Process praise promotes the internal sense of efficacy in a child. As they grow, it reinforces a belief in themselves that they are capable of succeeding as long as they put in the effort.
Model a Growth Mindset for Them
For children, imitation is one of the best teachers. This is why you as a parent or educator need to be wary of your behavior and attitude in front of the child. When you go through a challenge or solve a problem, verbalize your process to encourage them to emulate the growth mindset.
For example, replace the phrase “this is too hard” with “I need more practice with this.”
Teach Them the Magic Word
There are various stages to a child’s natural brain development. It is heartbreaking to see your child give up when they struggle to do a particular activity or solve a problem. But instead of letting them down, use the magic word instead: YET.
When your child says, “I can’t ride a bike,” teach them to say “I don’t know how to ride a bike yet” instead. Let them know that with practice, they will be able to do or be good at something.
