This week, I will be doing classroom presentations about Perfectionism and Challenging our Unhelpful Thoughts with a Growth Mindset.
During the lesson we learned/will learn about neuroplasticity -the brain's ability to grow and change throughout a person's life. Like a physical muscle, the brain gets stronger with effort, struggle, and repeated failure. We talked about some famous inventions (Cheese, fireworks, chocolate chip cookies, etc.) that were made by mistakes, and some famous people who have failed or been rejected (JK Rowling, George Lucas, Walt Disney, etc). Sometimes, when we make mistakes, we tend to have unhelpful thoughts about ourselves. As the school counselor at Sunrise, I often hear concerns from teachers and visit with kiddos who have a fixed mindset and say things such as, “this is too hard,” “I give up,” “I’m not good at___”, or some struggle to start things due to fear of failure. As parents I'm sure you hear similar things from your children, and at times say those things yourself, I definitely do. Children learn from our examples, so we can teach them some skills when this kind of thinking happens. It is not only okay to make mistakes, but it is necessary to make mistakes because they are learning opportunities that help us grow. Effort is the tool to learning and improving. Learning to have a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset is a tool that will be valuable throughout life. Here are some tools to help us have a growth mindset and overcome unhelpful thinking when we are rejected, make a mistake, or fail: Tools to Overcome Unhelpful Thinking and Have a Growth Mindset:
https://sunriseelementarycounseling.weebly.com/blog/30-ways-to-help-your-perfectionist-child 5 Effective Ways to Help Your Perfectionist Child: https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/perfectionist-child How To Explain Growth Mindset to Kids: https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/teach-kids-growth-mindset-neuroplasticity-activities Remember, you are the most important teacher in your child's life, and your kiddo is watching, listening, and learning from your example.
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