Growth mindset parenting can help your child understand that failure and challenges are learning opportunities. It’s the opposite of a fixed mindset parenting that produces kids that are afraid to take risks and face challenges.
Your children’s mindset affects how they respond to situations. Growth mindset parenting teaches kids that a challenge or a roadblock is good for brain development.
So let’s find out how you can help your child develop a growth mindset.
How to Practice Growth Mindset Parenting
Be Their Role Model
You can’t teach your child to have a growth mindset if you don’t embody it. Kids imitate their parent’s attitudes and behaviour. Your actions and the words you use show your children how to respond to circumstances.
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Let Them Know It’s Okay to Make Mistakes
Understandably, you want to protect your children from harm. But you also have a strike a balance between being protective and letting them experiment and experience things.
Being overprotective means pressuring them to perform well at school, in sports, or in creative pursuits. Preventing your children from making mistakes have dire consequences. They will likely develop low self-esteem and learn to lie to cover their mistakes. They could also become prone to anxiety, stress, and depression.
Let Them Face Their Problems
Even kids face problems and have tasks they need to handle. All of these require them to devise strategies. If your child is faced with a problem, ask them if they know a solution. Don’t try to solve it for them but let them know you’re there to support them.
Depression is highly likely among kids who lack problem-solving skills. They are also at higher risk of suicidality.
Kids who lack problem-solving skills tend to avoid the issue rather than spending their energy on solving it. Other kids might resort to abrupt actions such as refusing to go to class when they are being teased. Impulsive choices can lead to more complicated problems in the long run.
Be Mindful of Your Words
How you praise your children can have a profound effect on their mindset. Growth mindset parenting means being mindful of what you say to your kids.
Here are some things you can say to your kids to encourage a growth mindset:
- You worked so hard. Great job.
- We can try a new approach.
- You can learn anything.
- You’re not good at this yet, but you can learn.
- If you fail, you can try again.
Remember that Emotions Can Affect Learning
Emotions play a crucial role in your child’s motivation, attention, and learning. They can push your child to work. But they can also serve as a brake and keep them from doing what they need to be doing.
Rather than telling your child to get over or suppress their emotions, encourage them to open up and talk about their feelings. Repression does not make the negative emotion go away but might amplify them instead.
Some of the emotions that may keep your child from learning or negatively affect their motivation include:
- Embarrassment
- Boredom
- Anxiety
- Fear of failure
- Discouragement
On the other hand, pride, enthusiasm, and the pleasure of learning motivate a child to learn and perform tasks.
What Growth Mindset Parenting Is NOT
Growth mindset parenting means not forcing your child into studying or performing tasks when they’re experiencing negative emotions. Growth mindset parenting means talking to them and trying to understand where the emotions are coming from.
Let your children know their feelings are valid. Address the negative emotion rather than force your child to “get over it.” They will likely gain back their motivation and enthusiasm once they’re able to process their feelings.
