bathroom moments...

OOPS-- am i PRAISING wrong??

Love this!!

I'm TOTALLY going to learn this and then teach it to my kids.

I was, um, pondering. And, reading Reader's Digest. I found this article and i had an AHA! MOMENT.

The article is all about successful people who came from big failures. But really, it's about how we think and how we teach our children to think.

They said there are two main mindsets...

Fixed Mind-set-- I am smart. The problem with this is that kids who think they are smart tend to stop trying and get discouraged when things are hard. OOOOOOHHHH- this is ME.

Growth Mind-set-- effort and learning make things possible... failure is an opportunity for growth.

Dr. Dweck, who did all this research, says that we are all born with a growth mind-set but parents, coaches and teachers can push us into a fixed mind-set by how they PRAISE.

HERE is a whole list of magazine articles about this principle... like "The Secret to Raising SMART kids" Hint: Don't tell your kids that they are. More than three decades of research shows that a focus on effort—not on intelligence or ability—is key to success in school and in life.

NOT saying, "You are so smart." But, "Wow, Look how hard you're trying." or "I'm proud of your persistence."

You see, it's not about

Good Kid vs. Bad Kid.

(I'm really good at keeping my kids mentally in the "Good Kid".)

I think i need to change to...

Improving Kid vs. Stuck Kid...

or

Improving Mama vs. Stuck Mama...

oh... the HOPE...

Here is another great link... it's a You Tube of JK Rowling's Commencement address to Harvard Grads in 2008... 10 minutes. Funny. about life and failure and true success. check it out!

i have a feeling that this one mind-set change might change a lot for me (um. and my kids).

I'm really excited to work on this!!

and, here's a Reader's Digest joke for all of you homeschool moms...

"Following a tough day of homeschooling her children, my friend was in the kithchen muttering to herself when her 14-year-old son walked in. "What's going on?" he asked. "I'm having a parent-teacher conference," she growled."