Praise and Kids' Motivation to Keep Trying

Praise can shape how children respond to challenge and how long they keep trying. In this topic, the focus is on how adults describe a child’s success and how that can affect later motivation. The example of learning to skate shows how the same difficult task can lead to very different reactions.

A child?s motivation to succeed at a task?whether a school assignment, sports event, or craft?is heavily influenced by their mindset and how they perceive themselves.

According to psychologist Carol Dweck, children fall into one of two mindset categories: fixed or growth.

Those with a fixed mindset aren?t likely to persist in learnin...