Jan Pierce, M. Ed.
Here’s a hot topic for all caring parents. What can you, as a parent, do to optimize your child’s
successes in learning throughout life?
We’ve all heard of the nature/nurture arguments which say a
child is born with a certain learning capability and their environment merely
promotes or inhibits reaching full potential. And, that is true.
However, the most recent thinking in the world of learning
is that the environment a child experiences has a great deal to do with whether
or not a child reaches that full potential. Further, the attitude the child takes into school and learning
all of life’s lessons determines how successful he or she will be.
It’s a fact that a child’s brain has reached 90% of its
adult size before entering Kindergarten. The growth in the brain from birth to
age four or five is amazing and much of a child’s learning success depends on
healthy, positive learning environments provided during those first years. However
the brain continues to organize and restructure information all through
childhood and into early adult life. So what can you do to support the highest
levels of learning for your child?
What Helps and What
Hurts
Lots of companies have produced products designed to
increase early learning. Some have claimed babies can learn to read and others
promote hours of screen time to develop language, math understandings, music
appreciation and much more. Most of these products have proven to be of little
value if not actually harmful to early learning.
We know now that screen time for children under the age of
two can be detrimental to brain development. We also know that interactions
with other human beings are the best way to promote language learning, basic
literacy, math understandings and so much more.
There are toys and games proven educationally sound. One of the
best is simple blocks or other building/connecting materials. Time spent
exploring with such open-ended materials promotes cognitive skills. Some board
games build math understandings such as one to one correspondence and
patterning, while some video games build spatial skills and working memory (the
ability to hold, process and manipulate information while problem-solving). Any
activity that promotes critical thinking skills (logical problem-solving) is
time well-spent.
But in general children learn best the “old-fashioned” way:
they play, create, imagine, exercise, and explore while interacting with others
in safe environments. They ask questions, make predictions and try out
solutions to problems. They learn as they play.
In American culture children are more motivated to learn
when they have some choice in the subject matter. They seem to put out more
effort and are willing to work harder and longer when they study something they
love.
READ MORE: How to raise emotionally intelligent kids to conquer stress
What Matters Most
Perhaps the most important new understanding in early
learning is the fact that children can either shut down or expand their
learning successes based solely on the way they think about themselves as
learners.
Children who believe they can’t improve their
intelligence—“get smarter”—are far less able to enter any learning activity
with a positive attitude. They tend to think they will either win or lose
rather learn and grow. Even if they believe they’re “smart” they fear failure
and thus define mistakes as proof of their lack of ability. Every learning task
is another hurdle that means risking their learning reputation.
On the other hand children who believe they can learn more and improve their
understandings will enter a learning activity with a can-do attitude. Mistakes
are seen as landmarks along the road to better understandings, not failures.
(Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of
Success)
This concept can’t be overstated. A child’s mindset for
learning can either open the door to an exciting world to explore and enjoy, or
become a series of tests filled with worry, tension and potential failure.
How to Get There
One of the ways to free your child from becoming a fearful
learner is to refrain from praising their innate abilities, saying “You’re
really smart at math.” This is tough. We’re used to telling our children how
smart they are and praising their performances based on their capabilities in
an effort to build self-esteem.
But when children come to believe they’re only smart when
they “get it right,” they learn that anything other than perfection is failure.
Then any mistake is counted as a lack of intelligence rather than identifying
an error as exploration leading to further understanding. Your child needs to believe he or she can
learn more.
Instead, we need to praise a child’s efforts, perseverance
and strategies. Instead of saying, “You’re a great artist,” you could say, I
like the blues and greens in this drawing. You really worked hard on this.” The
focus is on the product and the effort the child made creating it.
Children do need praise, but they need the kind that builds
resilience and that “can-do” attitude toward learning. Rather than, “You’re
really smart at math” you might say, “I can see you’ve been working hard on
subtraction.” Or “You found a great way to get those answers.”
Freedom vs. Fear
Next time your child is immersed in a creative play
activity, sit back and observe. I recently watched a three and a five-year-old
as they played with blocks and miniature animals. They built fences and roads
and kept up a running commentary on what they were doing. No one argued with
them when they put the shark into the cow pen. There was no right or wrong, no
winning or losing, just healthy, imaginative play.
As parents we can strive to build that kind of freedom into
our child’s self-concept as a learner. Yes, there is a lot to learn. Yes, there
are right and wrong answers. But also yes… he or she can keep learning and be
successful with hard work and that ever-so-productive can-do attitude.
Jan Pierce, M.Ed., is
a retired teacher and freelance writer. She is the author of "Homegrown Readers and Homegrown Family Fun". Find Jan at www.janpierce.net
Resources
Dweck, Carol S. Ph.D., Mindset:
The New Psychology of Success
Branson, Ken, Inherited
IQ Can Increase in Early Childhood, Rutgers Today, January, 2018
Stuart, Annie, Can You
Boost Your Child’s IQ?, Web MD
Dewar, Gwen, Ph.D., Praise
and Intelligence, Parenting Science