All students can benefit from growth mindset strategies. This is especially true for students who are falling behind academically and losing their confidence.

It’s easy for students who are struggling academically to believe and even articulate untrue, and helpful beliefs:

“I am not smart.”
“I cannot do this.”
“I will never be able to do this.”

How can you help your child when they feel so hopeless?

By helping them develop a growth mindset.

Here are 5 growth mindset strategies for your student.

1. Reflect on Their Mistakes

It’s uncomfortable admitting and even acknowledging our mistakes, but this is the first step of growth. From there, we must take the time to reflect on them and ask an important question: “What does this mean about me?”

“What does this mean about me that I struggle with reading, writing makes me cry, and I cannot remember my math facts?”

We are quick to dismiss our mistakes, because we often forget that making mistakes is proof that we are learning. By reflecting on these mistakes, we can strive to one day no longer repeat them.

2. Self-Identify Strengths and Weaknesses

A major part of instilling a growth mindset within your child is helping them in their metacognition: the ability to monitor one’s own thinking and learning. Though it may be more laborious and time-consuming, let your child be the one to lead this exercise.

With a t-chart and favorite writing utensil in hand, have your child write a list of strengths and weaknesses. Don’t shy away from that language; there is nothing wrong in admitting we have areas of weakness. Aim to have more strengths than weaknesses listed, so feel free to share with your child the strengths you see.

3. Focus on Growth, Not Speed

Children are quick to confuse speed with intelligence, thinking they are only smart if they are able to learn quickly. This simply isn’t the case. We all learn at different paces, and it’s unfortunate how much we have over-emphasized something as unimportant as speed. Adults are guilty of this, too.

For your child, have them brainstorm skills that were once unthinkable for them, but now they can complete without a thought. This doesn’t have to be academically focused. In fact, the more “real-world” skills you can brainstorm, the better. Regardless of the skill, encourage your child to see how any meaningful growth takes time.

4. Praise Effort

As a culture, we know positive reinforcement is important for all people, but especially children learning a new skill. The hard part is we have no idea how to give children position reinforcement.

Author of Mindset, Carol Dweck writes: “Praising students’ intelligence gives them a short burst of pride followed by a long strive of negative consequences.”

Instead of praising their intellect, praise their effort. Focus on the strategies they used, the time they took, and their persistence in solving a problem. Focus more so on the effort and less on the outcome.

5. The Power of Yet

When your child is on their third hour of trying to complete their math homework and they seem to be losing any hope of being proficient in multi-digit multiplication, they are very likely to have already said, “I cannot do this!” dozens of times.

Maybe they also say:

“I’m not good at this.”
“I don’t understand this.”

When a child with a fixed mindset faces a challenge, they truly begin to internalize and believe these statements to be facts. They become convinced this is how it is and will always be.

But, by adding “yet” to each sentence, it acknowledges where they currently are, while also acknowledging the potential for growth.

I cannot do this yet.
I’m not good at this yet.
I don’t understand this yet.

Try helping your child reframe their thinking when they are faced with what feels like overwhelming challenges by considering the power of yet.

What strategies do you use to help instill a growth mindset in your child or student?

Strive Learning Solutions has a team of specialists that would love to help boost your student’s self-esteem. Inquire today and receive your first session free!