#2 - Why I'll Never Tell My Son He's Smart. Thoughts.

I will admit, when I first read the title of the article, it made me a little mad. I kept thinking:

-Why would he never tell his son that he's smart? 

-That doesn't seem like a very good way to build up his confidence. 

-Well, that is a bit mean.

However, after reading the article, I see that he's not actually trying to be a rude person or kill his son's self esteem. He's trying to allow his son to see that failing, or getting things wrong is not the end. You learn through your mistakes and your failures. Only by failing, can you succeed.

I already knew all of this, because I have a habit of making mistakes and having to try and try again. I know that through hard work and dedication you can succeed and improve in all things. Practice makes perfect, right?

I do believe in allowing children the room to make mistakes and improve. I think it's an important part of growing and life. Not everything is going to work out the way they plan it out to be. Being good in one subject, does not mean you're good at all subjects, but that doesn't mean you can't improve on the other ones. I believe that showing children that there is always room for more learning, to never stop learning, to love learning, will make a difference.

The only thing I don't agree with is not telling children they're smart. They need you to believe in them. They look up to you. You are someone they trust, they believe in, they need you. Some children need to know that you think they can do it. They CAN succeed. I CAN succeed.

I will tell my students they are smart. I will also allow them room to fail, but I won't let them feel like failures. I will show them that they can overcome their struggles, and I will help them do so, because they ARE smart and I never want to see a child give up.