Here’s an interesting study relevant to all our blog readers who are parents of young kids.
Scientific America magazine talks about a study that shows that it’s more important to teach your kids the importance of hard work as a means for academic success than it is to tell them that they are bright and talented. Apparently kids who are told that they are smart, often look down on hard work and tend to give up when the going gets tough.
This article might go against your beliefs on parenting. Read it with an open mind.
The Secret to Raising Smart Kids
Hint: Don’t tell your kids that they are. More than three decades of research shows that a focus on effort—not on intelligence or ability—is key to success in school and in life
By Carol S. Dweck
A brilliant student, Jonathan sailed through grade school. He completed his assignments easily and routinely earned As. Jonathan puzzled over why some of his classmates struggled, and his parents told him he had a special gift. In the seventh grade, however, Jonathan suddenly lost interest in school, refusing to do homework or study for tests. As a consequence, his grades plummeted. His parents tried to boost their son’s confidence by assuring him that he was very smart. But their attempts failed to motivate Jonathan (who is a composite drawn from several children). Schoolwork, their son maintained, was boring and pointless.
Our society worships talent, and many people assume that possessing superior intelligence or ability—along with confidence in that ability—is a recipe for success. In fact, however, more than 30 years of scientific investigation suggests that an overemphasis on intellect or talent leaves people vulnerable to failure, fearful of challenges and unwilling to remedy their shortcomings.
The result plays out in children like Jonathan, who coast through the early grades under the dangerous notion that no-effort academic achievement defines them as smart or gifted. Such children hold an implicit belief that intelligence is innate and fixed, making striving to learn seem far less important than being (or looking) smart. This belief also makes them see challenges, mistakes and even the need to exert effort as threats to their ego rather than as opportunities to improve. And it causes them to lose confidence and motivation when the work is no longer easy for them.
Praising children’s innate abilities, as Jonathan’s parents did, reinforces this mind-set, which can also prevent young athletes or people in the workforce and even marriages from living up to their potential. On the other hand, our studies show that teaching people to have a “growth mind-set,” which encourages a focus on effort rather than on intelligence or talent, helps make them into high achievers in school and in life.
FinerMinds is hosted by 
I have experienced this with my son, who was told by friends and family that he was very smart and intelligent. Since around the 8th — 9th grade he started neglecting his studies, was constantly bored and kept geting into trouble. He is still having problems dealing with adversity, has very low resilience and behavioral problems.
I would just like to request you to put some tips, pointers … as to how, we as parents, can help him overcome this.
I have this problem with both my children. Both are very talented and walk most exams they have to do. They have tended to leave things to the last minute knowing that they do not have to work as hard as the rest.
The secret is to encourage them to think big in terms of what they can achieve so that they believe that they can be exception if they work as hard as others and not one of the crowd. The other thing to do is to spot their natural gift and keep affirming it to them so that not only do they expect to achieve big they will be focussed on the thing that will give them the greatest all round Joy
I’ve found this to be true in my own life. I was a “boy genius” — straight A’s, honor roll, got into an Ivy League school, all without really trying. Once there, I wasn’t prepared for the added level of difficulty and almost failed out. 12 years later, I still struggle with work ethic, procrastination & etc. Not my parent’s fault, but I have to control my inner dialog so I don’t fall off the “productivity wagon.”
I do not agee with you telling your kids that they are not smart„children need a constant boost they have to be told they are good at what they do even if they are not bright this positive energy is very good for them.It has worked on both my kids they want to do well in their studies they feel they need to show everyone they are truely bright!!!!if your kids are not doing well it means there is too much distraction.again tell them how good they are and how proud you are of them.they will respond well.make sure they over hear you telling your friends how bright they are!!!it works like a gem!!!
hey check out my diaper bag website :
http://www.pyknyk.com
Thank’s for that article. As a grandmother I am gilty of teling mu drandkids that they smart. Luckily they are still smal and I have the time to corect my behaviour.
Therese
I know this for a fact in my life, my son’s life and my grandson’s life. We all have high IQs but struggle with procrastination, and low morale. My grandson, now 15, is constantly bored and unwilling to put in any effort at school. It didn’t help that after failing every class in his last year at Middle School, he blithely informed his teachers that it didn’t matter because he would pass the CRCT exam, which he did, allowing him to move on to high school.The kids who worked hard all year were understandably upset, and my grandson was confirmed in his belief that he didn’t need to put any effort into his school work.
I would also be interested in pointers to counteract years of affirming his smarts.
I don’t know about this one. There could be a mix up with children who are extra bright but not stretched early on. They tend not to learn how to work and so when work set does become hard enough for them they don’t know how to deal with it — they haven’t learned the strategies.
I believe that the key is to balance the praise of both hardwork and talent.
Overdo anything is never a good thing.
the old saying ” there is no short cut to hard work” still satands true. Every thing needs working at — be it talent/intelligence/habit. In my experience this holds tru for all of us — if we were great at art as kids — and didnt work at it, the skills DO get fuzzy. Consistently working/ making efforts is a must
It rings true! Think of all the mantras that we absolutely know to be true — that practice makes perfect, that you need to constantly set goals to achieve them, that motivation is the key to everything if you are to get on with finding success
This is wisdom passed down to adults from adults who have learned the hard way, so that we may learn from others mistakes — Yet a child doesn’t have this logic, and if told they are special, as in one of a kind for whom the rules don’t apply, that child will of course react with indifference to hard work and all the unglamorous things they feel they don’t need to do. I’m about to have my first child and this is the way I’ll be going!
It is very true that we have to be careful not to give your children the notion that they are smart because they learn effortlessly. We also don’t want our children to get used to achieving all their goals without having to work towards them.
It is, though, necessary to be open and honest with the child. If the child is testing in the genius or gifted interval for IQ, it is very important to let the child benefit from the special programs that are available for them, and it is also very important to provide the extra enrichment the child needs. Hiding the fact that the child is gifted from her, or ignoring it, would be damaging for the child’s future.
In my free newsletter “Develop Your Child’s Genius” I have recently published an article based on a very interesting research of a group of educators about the way gifted children are treated in our schools in the US. The group has suggested a very cost effective and beneficial way to help those children who are “gifted and talented”, and bored in the classroom.
You can read about it at http://www.all-gifted-children.com/lastezine.htm