The Importance of Growth Mindset with Children 

What Is Growth Mindset? 

Growth Mindset is the understanding that abilities and intelligence can be developed. To break it down: if you and your kids have a Growth Mindset you know that you have the potential to always get smarter! The opposite of Growth Mindset is Fixed Mindset in which people believe that they have a certain level of intelligence that can never change. People with Growth Mindset know that by tackling challenging problems and spending time working out the solution to something that they are increasing their intelligence. Research has proven that when we use our brains in different and challenging ways that we can grow new neural networks and make the existing ones stronger and faster, thus actually make our brains smarter.

Why It Is Important: Growth Mindset is crucial for kids to learn early on so that they don’t feel defeated in their learning. People with a Growth Mindset take challenges head on and understand that just because something doesn’t make sense the first time or you don’t get something right away doesn’t mean that they aren’t smart enough to work through the problem. Students thrive when they have a Growth Mindset because they don’t see failure as the end of a problem – just a time to take a new approach. Research has shown that instead of being overwhelmed by challenges in school, students who have Growth Mindset perform better over the long run because they are aware that being challenged is good for their brains.

How to help your kids develop Growth Mindset 

Parents of little ones have a tremendous amount of influence on their children. You can help your kids to develop Growth Mindset by setting a positive example. Let your kids see you work on something that is hard for you and struggle with it but not give up. If you’re building a bench and it’s a project you haven’t done before let your little ones help even through the hard aspects. When your child has persevered through a problem you can encourage Growth Mindset by praising hard work and their dedication to solving the problem rather than just getting the right answer.

Examples of Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset

• “I can’t do it” “I don’t know how to do this, yet”
• “I’m dumb” “I’m still learning how to do new things”
• Gives up on a project Looks for new approaches to solve the problem
• Gives little effort on projects Understands that by giving best effort they can solve the problem
• Does not take on difficult tasks Sees difficult tasks as a way to strengthen their brain

How to Talk Using Growth Mindset:

When in doubt, add the word “yet” to phrases you already use to start an easy transition into using Growth Mindset language. If you find yourself saying “I don’t know how to do that” just at “yet” to make it a more Growth Mindset friendly phrase. “I don’t know how to do that yet” means that you are going to try and learn how to do the thing you once didn’t know how to do. Also when you or your child have done a difficult task saying “I’m proud of how you worked through that problem and were dedicated to solving it” gives your child more specific praise and encouragement than “good job”.

Resources for Parents: There are lots of wonderful resources available should you want to study up on how to best support your child in developing their Growth Mindset.

1. 1.  Mindsetworks.com is a great website to check out for more information on the science and research behind the practice of Growth Mindset.

1.       2. Minsdetscholarsnetwork.org is another website that is dedicated to research about Growth Mindset.

3. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck, one great mind behind the notion of Growth Mindset, is her fantastic book that gives you information all about the benefits of Growth Mindset straight from the source.