The Learning Myth: Why I’ll Never Tell My Son He’s Smart
Good Morning SSPP Parents and Students.
I recently came across a great article from The Khan Academy, written by Salman Khan, that I want to share with our SS. Peter and Paul School families. The article is called The Learning Myth: Why I’ll Never Tell My Son He’s Smart.
In the article, it discusses praising our children not just when they do something they are already good at, but praising them for persevering at something they have struggled with.
To give a better idea of the methodology, here is the initial example given by Salman Khan in his article:
My 5-year-old son has just started reading. Every night, we lie on his bed and he reads a short book to me. Inevitably, he’ll hit a word that he has trouble with: last night the word was “gratefully.” He eventually got it after a fairly painful minute. He then said, “Dad, aren’t you glad how I struggled with that word? I think I could feel my brain growing.” I smiled: my son was now verbalizing the tell-tale signs of a “growth mindset.” But this wasn’t by accident. Recently, I put into practice research I had been reading about for the past few years: I decided to praise my son not when he succeeded at things he was already good at, but when he persevered with things that he found difficult. I stressed to him that by struggling, your brain grows.
-Salman Khan – The Learning Myth: Why I’ll Never Tell My Son He’s Smart
I encourage each of you to read the full article and watch the below video.
Together in Faith, we can help our children grow into wonderful, smart and caring individuals.
-M. Palmer