By Mellisa Genfi
Image: Makeda’s Keys to Success
“If plan A didn’t work, the alphabet has 25 more letters.” Unknown
Happy New Year and Black History Month to you all. As we enter 2024, teaching your child a growth mindset is a valuable investment in their future, especially in the rapidly changing landscape of the 21st century. A growth mindset can significantly impact their overall development and success.
Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset
Two children, Liyah and Anita. Liyah had a fixed mindset, she wasn’t confident in her abilities and believed that intelligence was something that you are born with. On the other hand, Anita embraced a growth mindset, viewing challenges as opportunities to learn and improve. One day a math competition arose in school. Liyah, fearing failure and worried about what others might think, hesitated to participate. Meanwhile, Anita saw the competition as a chance to expand her knowledge and skills.
As the competition progressed, Liyah struggled with each problem, feeling defeated by her perceived limitations. Anita, however, faced challenges with enthusiasm, seeking help when needed and learning from mistakes. Their divergent mindsets became apparent in their approaches to overcoming obstacles.
When the results were announced, Liyah was disheartened to find herself at the bottom, reinforcing her fixed mindset. Despite Anita not winning, she celebrated the progress made and acknowledged the lessons learned. The growth mindset not only helped Anita cope with setbacks but also fueled a continuous desire to improve.
Here are some strategies to instil a Growth Mindset:
Encourage Effort and Persistence:
Applaud your child when they make an effort when doing tasks. Encouraging your child’s efforts, will give them the feeling that they have achieved something great. Creating a winning feeling (atmosphere) called dopamine which is a hormone in the brain which produces happiness, when parents use this strategy your child will consistently want to experience that “winning feeling” and the growth mindset will be a part of them.
Embrace Challenges
Encourage your child to take on challenges and step out of their comfort zone. Help them see that mistakes are a natural part of growth. Embracing challenges equips your child to solve problems and develop creativity, which helps the child understand there is more than one solution to solve a problem. Share stories of people who faced challenges, but achieved their goals by persevering through the difficult times.
Positive Talk
The phrase “I can’t do it” is a statement that should be non-existent within the household, replace it with phrases such as “I know I can,” “This is going to be easy” and “Yes I can do it.” Positive talk encourages a positive attitude. Empowering language reprograms your child’s mindset for growth and greatness. Positive affirmations should be part of your child’s lifestyle instead of it being a once in a while activity.
Exercising the Brain
Let your child know that the brain needs exercise, just as our bodies need to keep fit. When they can comprehend that the brain is similar to the muscles in our body, it will help them to understand that the more they practice learning, the brain will become stronger and able to tackle challenges.
Have a Love For Learning
The student who will succeed in the 21st century is the student who has a love for lifelong learning. Encourage your child to be self-motivated to pursue knowledge. Investigate and support their interests and help them to explore new ideas and topics.
Goal Setting
Encourage goal setting with your child from an early age. Teaching goal setting helps them understand persistence and builds confidence. When creating goals that are big break large goals into small bitesize ones.
Self-Reflection
When your child completes their tasks let them think about what they have done, when reflecting on their work or any other experiences ask them questions like, “What did you learn today?” or “What challenges did you overcome?” Learning how to self-reflect teaches your child to have a deeper understanding of themselves by knowing their strengths and weaknesses and making improvements.
A growth mindset should bring out the passion for learning in your child. Using strategies for your child to develop a growth mindset, will help them to flourish and gain a head start in solving problems at an early age. Gaining characteristics such as confidence and perseverance when challenges arise becomes part of them instead of shying away when things get tough.
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