Mindsets In the Classroom - Chapter 6: What Messages Should Parents Hear About Growth Mindset?

"...important to get parents educated so that children can hear a consistent message at home."

Oh my, how true this is!  If I had a quarter for every time I have heard parents say that they were never good at math in an attempt to explain their child's grade/lack of a grade/behavior in class/etc.  So the question remains, how do we do this?  Educate parents that mistakes and failures are to be valued and to continue to set high expectations.

"If any adult in a child's life communicates low expectation either verbally or nonverbally, then achievement can suffer."

"A central message to communicate with parents is the importance of encouraging resilience in their children."

1.  "Always praise a child's willingness to try, effort, patience, and practice.
2.  "Being able to switch gears and change plans is important when building resilience in our children."
3. "Adopt a 'glass half full' mentality in the home."

"Educate parents about neural connections so that they can be aware of the importance of practice and persistence."
1.  "Have parents participate in some of the student learning experiences in Ch. 8"
2.  "Show the Interview scene from The Pursuit of Happiness and focus the discussion on evidence of a fixed or growth mindset."
3.  "Gather written feeding from parents."
     a. "As a result of this session,  I am thinking..." and "As a result of this session, I am planning..."
     b.  "Have them write down what they believe about intelligence before the workshop".
     c.  Information should be ongoing.

I think we should have a short session at the beginning of Open House to introduce our focus this year using one or some of the ideas listed above.  How do we continue to provide parents information throughout the year?  Newsletter?  Have advanced keyboarding kids write the articles?  Website?  Facebook?