Real Mothers Know- Secret #8

Real Moms Know Secret #8
A Mother Who Applauds Effort Nurtures Perseverance
For Moms:Be Affirmative
Benefit for Kids: Internal Motivation and Perseverance

Ever wonder why Asian students perform better academically than American students? An intensive study revealed that Asian parents strongly stress the value of efforts with their children and affirm over and over “Work as hard as you can and you will be successful.” American parents emphasize “What grade did you get?” “Did you win?” The effort a child puts into the process is not nearly important to an American parent as the end product or grade or score. This difference in “affirming style” had a remarkable effect. Asian children worked longer and harder, stuck with projects, and handled frustrations and failures better.

Just switching a pronoun can have a big difference, for example instead of saying “I’m really proud of your work” say “YOU must be really proud of YOUR efforts.” This takes the emphasis off your approval and puts it on your child’s efforts. We should really encourage this internal praise & encourage our children to stick with things. Some fun ways to applaud kids efforts are leaving notes around like in their lunch, under their pillow, or on the bathroom mirror.