Growth Mindset
Social Emotional Learning Team
What is a growth mindset?
A growth mindset teaches kids that their brains are capable of growing and developing; that they can put in the right effort and use the right strategies to become better at things and that challenges and mistakes are opportunities to grow.
Kids with a growth mindset feel empowered and try harder. They are more confident, resilient, and are not afraid to fail.
Developing a growth mindset is a life skill and allows children to develop healthy habits with their education and relationships.

Neuroplasticity
What is the difference between a Fixed Mindset and a Growth Mindset?
Fixed Mindset:
- I like my work to be easy.
- I don’t like to try a challenge.
- I want people to praise me for how clever I am.
- I believe I cannot change how clever I am.
- I don’t like to try new things because I won’t be very good at it.
- I give up easily.
Growth Mindset:
- I never give up.
- I like my work to be difficult – it means I am learning.
- I love challenges.
- I want people to praise me for the effort I put into my work.
- I believe I can get more intelligent by working hard.
- I feel clever when I’m learning something new.
- I learn from my mistakes.

How to foster a growth mindset
Tell your child, over and over and over again, that "Brains can get stronger"
Pay attention to effort over results
Be specific with praise
Catch your child being persistent
Encourage a healthy attitude to failure and challenge
Use the word ‘yet’, and use it often
Show your child that they don’t always have to be successful to be okay
Encourage your child to keep the big picture in mind
Give permission to fail

Parent Guides
Mindsets for Parents: Strategies to Encourage Growth Mindsets in Kids This book gives parents and guardians powerful knowledge and methods to help themselves and their children learn to embrace life's challenges with a growth mindset and an eye toward increasing their effort and success! | The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child by D. Siegel In The Yes Brain, the authors give parents skills, scripts, ideas, and activities to bring kids of all ages into the overwhelmingly beneficial “yes” state. | Grit for Kids by L. Daniels Teach your kids to develop grit, that combination of passion, purpose, and perseverance that has been identified as a key to success! |
Mindsets for Parents: Strategies to Encourage Growth Mindsets in Kids
The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child by D. Siegel
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success After decades of research, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea: the power of mindset. In this brilliant book, she shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities. People with a fixed mindset—those who believe that abilities are fixed—are less likely to flourish than those with a growth mindset—those who believe that abilities can be developed. Mindset reveals how great parents, teachers, managers, and athletes can put this idea to use to foster outstanding accomplishment. | Educational Videos (Elementary) |
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Educational Videos (Elementary)
Literature for students
Elementary This innovative and timely picture book teaches children that they have the ability to stretch and grow their own brains. It also delivers the crucial message that mistakes are an essential part of learning. The book introduces children to the anatomy and various functions of the brain in a fun and engaging way. | Middle School Right before her mother died, Emma promised that she'd do whatever it took to fulfill her destiny. But when Emma's dream finally arrives, it points her toward an impossible task--finding a legendary treasure hidden in her town's cemetery. This book is about determination and following your dreams. | High School Written by a clinical-child and school psychologist and based on the latest research, The Grit Guide for Teens will help you build perseverance, resilience, self-control, and stamina. |