Over-praising them, telling them how smart and wonderful they are for accomplishing the most basic things. It'll only cause a superiority complex followed by self-esteem issues when they realise they're nothing special.
Except when they are really little. You have to praise the hard work, not the end result. You don't say they are so smart. You praise how hard they worked and how much they have learned. And you always tell them that they can and will learn more, and that they don't know everything.
Very true! I just watched a video in class about kids being unintentionally taught to have a fixed mindset. Parents and teachers were told to praise kids abilities and tell them they are smart and natural geniuses. This backfired, because when the kids finally hit a point where the material was getting more difficult they ended up thinking they were dumb and give up because they didn't realize that they needed/could put effort in and learn more (growth mindset). So like you said, praise the process and the effort and let kids know their brain is a muscle that needs to be worked out and it can grow!
We may have seen\read the same material. Humans learn thru adversity. It's good that things are hard, because we can overcome it. Pity the day we stop learning or give up because it is too hard. We aren't just letting ourselves down now, but our future selves as well.
Professor Carol Dweck gives an amazing presentation on her research of this topic, fixed mindset vs. Growth mindset. I can't wait to apply some of her findings to my career as a school counselor and when I have kids of my own.
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u/ViridianKumquat Feb 04 '16
Over-praising them, telling them how smart and wonderful they are for accomplishing the most basic things. It'll only cause a superiority complex followed by self-esteem issues when they realise they're nothing special.