Comments on: 8 Ways To Brighten Your Child’s School Day

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 04:48:57 +0000

Yes, Audrey, that’s her, from her first day of kindergarten last year. And you have seen pics of my kids, for all I don’t post many. Look at the top right corner of the site. That’s my daughter peeking from behind a tree, and me with my son when he was a baby.

They’re old pics, but I still love them.

Hmm, Jeff, I wonder how that relates to the research advising that you avoid focusing on telling kids that they’re smart. Lots of research has shown that to be a mistake… but I do tend to do the same, praising the action along with a comment about my child being smart.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:53:18 +0000

Nice article!

One minor challenge: With #4, you’re right, encouragement is very important. But I think that the goal is to connect the actions to a (positive) core sense of self.

You don’t want to just blindly lead out with “You’re smart”. But connecting an accomplishment to a trait can be really powerful. “Look at how you figured that problem out by yourself! You’re so smart.”

Just a thought.

By: Audrey

Audrey — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:34:35 +0000

Hey Steph, it’s Audrey. Writing a note is such a great idea. I love it. Is that a photo of your daughter? I’ve never seen photos of your kids.

By: Vered - MomGrind

Vered - MomGrind — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:28:52 +0000

I love putting little notes in my kids’ lunchboxes. It’s the only thing that makes packing lunchboxes just a little less tedious. 🙂