5 Ways to Empower Your Child with a Growth Mindset
As parents, the way we talk about ability and learning can have powerful effects on our children and their beliefs. Here are some tips that you can use to help your child switch from a fixed to growth mindset. Remember, developing a growth mindset in yourself and in your kids is a process that takes time.
If you need a reminder of what it means for your child to have a Growth or Fixed Mindset and the benefits we have an article about that!
Think about it this way…
Have a growth mindset about developing a growth mindset!
1. Celebrate effort rather than achievement
Encourage effort and persistence, and praise process over outcome.
Show your child that you notice they are working hard, and acknowledge their efforts and praise them for it.
2. Normalise mistakes and failures as part of the learning process
Encourage your child not to worry about making a mistake or not doing something perfect the first time - with time and practice they can improve and learn new skills.
Explain that we all need to make mistakes to learn - in fact, we’ll never get better at anything if we don’t make mistakes and learn from them.
Things to say and NOT to say
Avoid saying things like:
You are so smart.
Instead try saying:
I can see you worked so hard on this!
3. Provide opportunities for challenges and growth
Give your child opportunities to take on new challenges. This allows opportunities for your child to shatter the negative perception of a challenge.
They will learn to embrace obstacles that come your way and start to see them as fruitful learning experiences.
4. Model a growth mindset yourself
Even if you are not in a growth mindset yet, you can change your perspective and mindset and model it for your kids. Show your child that you are excited by challenges, see mistakes as learning opportunities.
Be honest when something is difficult for you. Share this with your child and show them how instead of giving up, you keep practising and trying different strategies to help you improve
Give this a try!
I can’t do this, yet.
I don’t know this, yet.
It doesn’t make sense, yet.
5. Share positive self-talk phrases with your child
The power of “yet” - this one single word can make all the difference.
It will help them move from a fixed mindset where they “can’t” do something, to one where they “can’t do it yet”
It’s only once they believe they can do something,
suddenly anything feels possible!
And, once they have shifted their mindset,
then they start to see real results!
We know how hard it can be to support our children when they feel frustrated or upset that they can’t do something. Helping your child to shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset can be tricky, but using these strategies will help.
At Attain Education, we’re all about nurturing a growth mindset and helping kids feel a sense of self-belief and confidence. In every session, our tutors use strategies to help children feel empowered to tackle any learning challenges that come their way!
You can book a no-obligation call with one of our team to find out more about how our specialist primary tutors can support your child on their learning journey.