I’ve been using Levelty with my 8-year-old for a few weeks now and I’m wondering about the best approach for giving feedback. Should I focus more on praising the effort they put in (like ‘great job working so hard on that problem!’) or celebrate when they actually succeed and reach milestones in the app? I’ve heard arguments for both sides but curious what other parents think works better, especially with educational apps like this. Does anyone have experience with what motivates kids more in the long run?
I’m curious about this too. My 5 year old gets really frustrated when tasks feel too hard, so I’ve been trying to figure out the right balance. When I praise effort, they seem more willing to keep trying new things. But I wonder if always focusing on effort might make them think results don’t matter? What have you noticed with your child when you switch between the two approaches?
My kid tends to get discouraged pretty easily, so I’ve found that acknowledging the effort first usually keeps them going. Like if they’re struggling with a math section but keep at it, I’ll mention how they didn’t give up even when it got tricky. Then when they do hit those milestones, we definitely celebrate those too. I think both matter, but the effort praise seems to build more confidence day-to-day.
Mix of both works for us. I celebrate the wins but also point out when they stick with something tough. Kids seem to respond better when they feel noticed for trying, not just succeeding.
We’ve been trying something that’s worked pretty well - I praise the effort right in the moment when they’re working through something challenging, then we do a bigger celebration later when they complete a whole section or level. What I’ve noticed is that my kids seem to worry less about getting things wrong when they know I’m watching their hard work, not just waiting for the right answer. They’ll actually tell me now when something feels difficult but they want to keep trying. The achievement celebrations are still fun and important, but the effort praise seems to make them more willing to tackle harder stuff. Both my kids have gotten better at sticking with things since we started doing it this way.
What’s worked really well in my house is making the effort praise specific rather than general. When my kids were younger, I’d say things like “I saw you go back and check that three times” instead of just “good effort.” They seemed to understand better what they were doing right.
With my 17-year-old now, I can see how this built up over the years. She tackles difficult things without needing me to cheer her on because she learned early that the work itself mattered. My 14-year-old still needs more encouragement, but he’s gotten much better at not giving up when something gets hard.
The achievement celebrations definitely have their place too. We still do a little victory dance when they master something tough! But I noticed that when I only celebrated the wins, they started avoiding anything that felt challenging. Once I started noticing their process more than their results, they became way more willing to try new things.