This Scribble blog post was written by Emily Grant, Occupational Therapist.

How can you help your child develop a growth mindset?

Does your child often give up quickly when faced with a new challenge? Have you ever heard them say “I can’t do this” or do they ask you to finish tasks for them?

A few years ago, I stumbled across a Ted Talk that changed my life. The talk was given by a child psychologist named Carol Dweck. Carol spent her career studying resiliency in children. She studied this phenomenon by giving children math problems that were too difficult for them. She wanted to understand why some children were more resilient than others in the face of challenges and difficulties. What she discovered is that the children who were more resilient had a ‘growth mindset’ and those who were less resilient had a ‘fixed mindset’. The children with a growth mindset approached the difficult problems by working hard and saying things like “I like a good challenge”.  Conversely, the children with a fixed mindset gave up easily and said thing like “this is too hard”. These children often looked around for other children who were doing worse than they were and some of them even admitted that they would try to cheat on the next time.

So what exactly is a growth mindset?

Growth Mindset: The underlying belief that learning and intelligence can grow with time and experience. People with a growth mindset believe that they can get smarter through time, effort and experience.

Fixed Mindset: The underlying belief that intelligence is a fixed quality that cannot change. People with this mindset tend to believe that talent alone leads to success and that effort should not be required.

Over time, these differences in mindset or attitude can have a significant impact on a child’s learning and development. Children with a fixed mindset will be more focused on looking smart than on learning and they are more likely to avoid challenges, ignore useful feedback, feel threatened by the success of their peers and give up easily. Children with a growth mindset are more likely to embrace challenges, persist in the face of difficulty, learn from feedback and be inspired by the success of others. They will work harder and longer and be open to learning opportunities.

Having a growth mindset is particularly important for many of the children that we see here at TCP as many of the children we see have difficulty completing tasks at the same rate as their peers. Children who have a fixed mindset and who also struggling to complete certain tasks are more likely to develop behavioural issues in an attempt to mask their difficulty or avoid challenging activities. At TCP we are focused on helping children to develop a growth mindset and learn at their own pace in a supportive environment. We work very hard to ensure that we present each child with a “just right” challenge so that they leave each session feeling a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Helping your child develop a growth mindset

Here are four ways to help your child develop a growth mindset and become more resilient.

  1. Teach your children about their brains and neuroplasticity. Teach them that every time they solve a problem or do something difficult that their brains are growing by forming new connections that will make them smarter. There are many children’s books on the market now that are written to teach growth mindset from an early age.
  2. Focus on praising effort and actions instead of traits like intelligence. For example, say “I can see that you worked really hard on this project. I like your creative ideas and how well you were able to work with your team mates” instead of “You got an A, you are so smart!”. This way your child will learn to value the process and their effort more than the outcome.
  3. Teach your children that everyone makes mistakes and that mistakes are just opportunities for your brain to learn and get smarter. Mistakes are “brain training”.
  4. If your child is saying something negative like “I can’t do this”, try saying “not yet” and then help them problem solve or remind them that they might need a little more practice. Try brainstorming ways to make practicing that particular task more fun.

Talk to your OT about tasks that your child finds particularly difficult or challenging. Your OT should be able to help you break down the task into smaller pieces or make recommendations that will assist with the learning process.

Growth Mindset Resources

The growth mindset field is growing quickly. There are many online resources available to help guide you.

Carol Dweck book’s

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.

Dweck, C. S. (2012). Mindset: How you can fulfill your potential. Constable & Robinson Limited.

Ted Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve?language=en

Class DOJO: https://ideas.classdojo.com/b/growth-mindset

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