Building Growth Mindset at Home

By Traci Haly, CBA School Counselor

“I’m so bad at math.” “I’ll never learn this.” If your child says things like this, practicing a growth mindset can help. A growth mindset is the belief that our abilities grow when we take on hard things, give our best effort, ask for help, and treat mistakes as chances to learn.

This month at CBA, students have been practicing these skills. You can help at home with a few simple habits:

• Praise the effort. Name what your child did: “You checked your work and caught a mistake,” instead of “You’re so smart.”
• Turn mistakes into next steps. Ask, “What was confusing? What could you try differently?” Keep the focus on what the mistake can teach.
• Use the magic word: yet. “You haven’t learned this yet. Let’s practice one part together or ask for help.”
• Think out loud. Let your child hear you work through a setback: “That didn’t work. I’m going to try another way.”
• Talk about learning every day. At dinner or bedtime, ask, “What did you learn today?” or “What mistake taught you something?” Then share your own answer.

A growth mindset helps children become more resilient, take on challenges, and keep improving through effort. They learn that their abilities can grow and aren’t fixed.

Want to learn more? Read these articles from the Association for Psychological Science, Oxford Learning, and the Mount Sinai Parenting Center. For more resources, visit The Social Emotional Teacher blog.