I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately as a parent. It seems like kids these days are so focused on getting good grades or winning, but I want my children to value the process of learning and trying hard. Does anyone have tips on how to encourage this mindset? What’s worked for you in emphasizing effort over just the end result? I’m looking for practical advice I can use at home or share with their teachers. Thanks!
In our house, we’ve tried making ‘effort charts’ where my kid tracks things like study time or practice sessions. It’s not perfect, but seeing progress visually seems to help. For bigger projects, we break them into smaller steps and celebrate each one finished. I’ve noticed my kid getting excited about the process, not just the end result. Still figuring it out, but these little tweaks are making a difference.
We started talking about what they learned from each project, not just grades. I ask about challenges they faced and how they solved them.
For sports, we discuss how they improved specific skills over the season.
We’ve been using a ‘growth board’ in our kitchen. It’s a big whiteboard where we write down new things the kids try or skills they’re working on.
Every week, we have a little chat about what they’ve been doing. We talk about the tough parts and how they kept going. Sometimes we look at old entries to see how far they’ve come.
It’s not always easy. My younger one gets frustrated when things don’t work out right away. But seeing her sister’s progress on the board helps her understand it takes time.
This has been working pretty well for us. The kids seem more willing to try new things and stick with them longer. It’s nice to see them proud of their efforts, not just the end result.
I’ve been wondering about this too. My 5-year-old is just starting to do simple tasks, and I’m not sure how to balance praise for effort versus results.
Recently, we tried making a ‘task adventure’ where each chore is like a quest. My kid gets excited about ‘completing missions’ even if the results aren’t perfect.
I’m curious - has anyone tried linking effort to privileges rather than material rewards? Like extra playtime for trying hard on a task? I worry about always using tangible rewards but want to keep the motivation going. Any experiences to share?
I remember struggling with this when my kids were younger. What worked for us was making a big deal out of the ‘almost’ moments. Like when my son’s room wasn’t perfectly clean, but I could see he’d spent time organizing his toys. I’d point out the effort I noticed, even if the result wasn’t quite there yet.
We also started a ‘try something new’ challenge in our family. Every week, we’d each pick something we weren’t good at and give it a go. It could be anything from cooking a new recipe to trying a tricky math problem. We’d share our experiences at dinner, laughing about the mess-ups and cheering the small wins.
Over time, I saw my kids get more comfortable with not being perfect right away. They started to enjoy the process of figuring things out. It wasn’t always smooth sailing, but it definitely helped shift their focus from just the end result.