The Shoking Truth About Praise

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The Shocking Truth About Praise

by Linda

Do you believe that good parents praise their children?

When your child wins a game, draws a picture or comes home with an A on her report card, what do you say? What are you thinking?

Do you take a moment to think about WHAT you want to say and WHY you want to say it? Do you ever wonder what the impact of your words will have on your child?

Are you like so many other parents who are in the habit of responding with words like “good job”, “nice work” or “I am so proud of you”; without considering how these words will impact your child’s developing self esteem and self confidence?

 

A Different Perspective

Go to New York Magazine and read the article by Po Bronson, How Not to Talk to your Kids, The Inverse Power of Praise.

Consider this:

• Did you know that telling your children how smart they are and offering PRAISE often leads to under achievement?
• Did you ever make the CONNECTION between rewarding your child too frequently and his/her level of persistence when rewards were not present?
• How about the notion that PERSISTENCE is also an unconscious response in the brain that intervenes when there is no immediate reward?

. . . Now that you know

• How will you CHANGE your response?
• What will it take for you to become more CREATIVE in your use of language?
• How will you ask questions that ENCOURAGE your children to self evaluate?
• What OBSERVATIONS could you make that would support your child as they learn new skills and face new challenges?
• How much discipline will it take for you to RESIST giving your opinion? (I have to hire a personal coach to keep me on task)
• Armed with this new information, what CHOICES will you make for you and your children?

Tell us about it

If you are ready to parent from your best, we invite you to read this article and tell us what you think. If you know what you will do differently today, please take a moment and share your thoughts with us.

http://sharedventures.net/home/2007/10/31/the-shocking-truth-about-praise/