Welcome to January Golden Stars!

This month we are shifting our focus to a new skill that helps us ALL to persevere in the face of challenges and to re-think the way we approach our responses.  

 

 

What does that even mean?

Grit is the skill that stops us from quitting on the bad days and gives us courage to persevere towards our goals and passions. With the cold and weird weather as of late, we could sure use a bit of extra grit to get through those chilly winter challenges!

What will grit do for my child?

Excellence in anything we do requires commitment, hard work and failures along the way. Grit helps us continue to practice the things we would like to improve instead of giving up. Having grit can help us overcome obstacles even on the toughest days. In every type of work or school subject, grit can be as important to our success as talent or intelligence. It allows us to rise to the challenge of difficult goals and run the last mile.

Make working on weak spots a GAME!

Even in the face of abundant strengths, our weaknesses will often lead us to give up. As often as you can, find the game in working on your child’s weaknesses. Practicing anything can be intense and span many years to get to a level of excellence. Try to help your child find the fun in the tough spots instead of feeling like they aren’t good enough.  

Here’s an example: 

When my daughter was struggling with how quickly she could do mental math, we found ways to make it a fun challenge by engaging her in games designed specifically to increase processing speed. By adding some fun to this otherwise frustrating task, she was able to quickly improve and move on with renewed confidence.  

In addition, remember that fun and laughter also improves cognitive flexibility and can help our children think of new ways to solve the problems they are facing.  Learning to find the humor in the face of challenge, mistakes or unpredictable setbacks is not automatic – and takes LOTS of practice!  When parents model how to laugh at their mistakes and embrace obstacles or unexpected turns of the day – they show everyone around them, especially kids, that this is a normal part of life…and that it too…will pass.  In other words, you teach them to have an umbrella handy or near by…for the days or moments when the forecast is rain. 

Here’s a short video about Grit.  

Until next time, 

 

Dr. Jen, The Umbrella Project and Staff at St. Anne School.