Imagine you are writing a letter to your son or daughter. What is one lesson or idea that you don’t think many parents would mention, but you consider important to understand?
CEOs often remind everyone of the mission of the company and reinforce the vision. It helps keep people focused on what matters. What if parents did something similar? What would your mission statement be for your family?
Have a dilemma? Ask kids for advice. "I'm feeling nervous about my presentation tomorrow, any tips?" This shows we have confidence in them to handle these kinds of challenges. Next time they face a similar situation, they'll know that they can rely on themselves.
Don’t praise the action. Praise the *character* behind the action. Research shows we get a 22-29% increase in how likely kids are to help if we say "thanks for being a helper" instead of "thanks for helping." Kids want to *earn* that identity. 👇🏼
Kids contribute to team discussions in ways that feel authentic to them—be it leading, following, or disagreeing. They try and they fail, and their decisions are never perfect. But they surely get the chance to contribute to consequential decisions *in their own way.*
“What do you wanna be when you grow up?” is one of the most useless questions an adult can ask a child. Here’s why👇🏼
Roughly ⅔ of today’s students will end up doing work that hasn’t been invented yet. *what* we teach kids is less important than *how* they learn to teach themselves.
When kids are not engaged in what we want them to learn, we need to question ourselves, not blame them.
Good teachers are entertainers as much as they are educators.
Encourage kids to undertake activities where failure is a likely outcome just so they get used to failing.
If we can inspire kids to care about learning, they'll figure out the rest on their own. They’ll learn the facts, the grammar, and the history the minute it helps them reach a goal or satisfy a curiosity. That’s how they’re wired.
When we don't pressure kids to learn, their ability to learn remains intact. They remain curious, inquisitive and interested in the world around them.
Whoa LOVED this @ProfileRead Dossier on Esther Wojcicki: Silicon Valley's Godmother This is a must read for parents interested in raising entrepreneurial kids 🤸🏼 3 takeaways from Wojcicki👇🏼 theprofile.substack.com/p/the-profile-…
Quick scan to know if your kid is learning: See for how long they can talk about it. If you need to tell them to be quiet because they can't stop talking, something is right. Your kid is engaged. Your kid is learning.
We are dealing with a generation of kids who are sensitive and risk averse—kids who seek adults to solve their problems and protect them from discomfort. We must stop this. Kids are not as fragile as we think👇🏼🧵
Kids grow stronger from facing challenges, moderate pain, and low-stake conflicts. They do best when given the freedom to fail and navigate through the ups and downs of life. Kids are antifragile.
It is our job as educators and parents to continue cultivating their antifragility by not intervening when they face moderate stress. Ironically, doing nothing is often better than doing something. By facing challenges on their own, kids grow stronger into adulthood.
No matter how hard we try, we can't prevent every bad thing from happening to our kids. We don't have that much control over their lives. At times they will fail and suffer. But as long as the failing and suffering are not chronic, they'll grow stronger and thrive.
Let kids experience discomfort. Let them take reasonable risks. Let them deal with difficult people. Let them solve problems on their own. Let them take a few bruises, bumps, and scars in a relatively safe environment like the playground or soccer practice.
Exposing kids early on to germs will help them develop stronger immune systems. Exposing them to difficult situations and reasonable risks will help them become more resilient, independent, and self-confident adults.
Good parenting, like good teaching, is about mastering the art of balance. It’s about keeping a close eye, but not intervening all that much; making kids feel safe, but not that much either. Although difficult at first, stronger, antifragile adults will thank us in the future.
When a kid has a serious and productive interest in something, do anything possible to feed it. Be the perfect enabler.
When adults stop over-instructing, kids start thinking creatively and independently. As we ask kids to put more of themselves into learning, they’ll rise to the challenge and become more engaged and better prepared.
Every kid offers something unique to the world. Great teachers and parents help kids find their unique skill set and turn it into specific knowledge. Let’s talk about how 🧵👇🏼
As @naval says, “No one can compete with you on being you, and most of life is a search for *who* and *what* needs you the most.“ By focusing on specific knowledge, we can come alongside our kids and help them discover what they can offer the world that no one else can.
Blessings to all the mothers who have shaped us. "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come...Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." - Proverbs 31:25, 31:29
I've been fascinated for years by "mindset" since reading Josh Waitzkin's Art of Learning which referred to Carol Dwek's book by that title. We all know about the importance of a "growth" mindset versus a "fixed" mindset in every aspect of life from parenting to investing.
The coolest part of being a parent so far is that I’m my daughters best friend. She literally can’t wait to play with me. I’m sure someday soon, a “Kimberly” or “Becca” will take the throne. But for now, I reign supreme. pic.twitter.com/sMMD7TgG9F
one of the best part of having kids. You "act" amazed at tiny things ("look...bubbles!!"). The act becomes real over time. Being curious and excited about the everyday things twitter.com/naval/status/1…
The authoritarian hippie parent who finds their true calling in keeping the kids away from sugar, video games, tiktok, or whatever will not be raising the free-range, independent, self-regulating adults they imagine.