Help reinforce a growth mindset in your students with these children’s books.
If you are a parent or a teacher, you’ve most definitely heard the buzzword–“growth mindset”.
Growth mindset refers to people who think of intelligence as something that can improve and grow with effort and hard work. The term was coined by psychologist Carol Dweck in her best selling book, Mindset, The New Psychology of Success.
,While reading this book, I began to see how much of a fixed mindset I had. I placed limits on my abilities and did not take on challenges for fear of failure.
Changing the way we talk to ourselves and to our students is one step towards helping reinforce the message of a growth mindset. Another, is to read books to kids with stories that convey a similar message.
Below are some books that let kids know it’s OK to not at first succeed, that failure and challenges can be viewed as opportunities rather than a road block, and that determination often results in a far better outcome than being perfect.
Michael feels the reason he isnt very good at basketball is
because he’s short. His mother suggests he put salt in his shoes
and say a prayer to help him grow. But months go by and he
still isn’t any taller. Finally, while talking to his father, Michael
learns that being taller isn’t everything – it’s practice,
determination and giving your best that will that really make
a difference. And the rest of Michael Jordan’s story is history…
Beatrice is a girl who never makes mistakes – not ever. Until one
day she comes close to dropping a few eggs (a mistake) and
thereafter her life is governed by the fear of one day making a
mistake. Beatrice begins limiting her activities so she will never
make a mistake. But Beatrice learns an important lesson about
making mistakes after something unexpected happens at the
school talent show.
A young boy has a hypothetical problem and he doesn’t know what
to do with it. He’s scared of his problem, tries to hide from it, and
worries about it. Until one day, even though he’s still afraid, the
boy can’t take it anymore and decides he must face his problem.
He then discovers that his problem wasn’t as bad as he had made
it out to be and even contains something special…opportunity.
In this classic tale, Willie is determined to whistle. It’s not
easy and takes a lot of practice but Willie doesn’t give up. He
tries and tries until suddenly – he’s whistling!
This story follows a boy named RJ as he does the things he
enjoys – such as blowing bubbles, playing soccer, and
spending time with friends. But when a few friends give him
compliments, RJ isn’t too sure how to respond. Later, he hears
from his teacher and parents that there are a few things he
needs to work on. In the end, RJ learns what it means to
receive positive and negative feedback and what an
appropriate response is in each situation.
