Raising Kids Who Do Well, Not “Smart” Kids
This Scientific American article (link from the Freakonomics blog) shows me, yet again, an instance of parenting that makes sense when it’s explained, but isn’t necessarily intuitive.
Praising children’s innate abilities….reinforces this mind-set, which can also prevent young athletes or people in the workforce and even marriages from living up to their potential. On the other hand, our studies show that teaching people to have a “growth mind-set,” which encourages a focus on effort rather than on intelligence or talent, helps make them into high achievers in school and in life.
Left to my own devices, I’d praise my kids as clever, not praise them for their hard work.
Some days I believe that if I were to truly trust my instincts, all I’d be doing all day would be saying “Shh!”, “Stop that!” and “Argh!”