Dear Starfish Families,
The beginning of the school year is a time focused on building a strong classroom community. We work on making all children feel secure, nurtured and supported by their environment and each other. To support our solid foundation of a classroom community, I’m excited to share the Growth Mindset work the Starfish are beginning to dive into. As we continue to learn and play together, we will also be building critical skills for a lifetime of curiosity and growth. I will be teaching some important ways of thinking about ourselves and the world that has grown out of the incredible work of Carol Dweck.
Carol Dweck is a researcher, currently at Stanford University, who has pioneered a great deal of work around the idea of growth mindset. A growth mindset is the belief that we can learn anything with support, hard work, and thoughtful strategic instruction. Children with a growth mindset outperform children who do not think of themselves and their learning this way.
The way we support this work in our classroom is by intentionally teaching ways of thinking about ourselves and our learning. This year, we will be teaching your children the concepts of:
OPTIMISM: The belief that no matter the obstacle, we have the power and possibility to overcome it.
RESILIENCE: The ability to bounce back from setbacks and frustrations and learn from them when they happen.
PERSISTENCE: The habit of trying something more than once, or sticking with something through the hard parts.
FLEXIBILITY: The knowledge that there are multiple ways to solve any problem, and the skills to strategically solve it.
EMPATHY: The ability to understand feelings and other people’s points of view. A fundamental aspect of a healthy child and a healthy community.
As we learn more about these big ideas, we will think about ways to use self-talk, self stories, goal setting, and reflection to reinforce and support these positive habits of mind. Stay tuned for that work as it unfolds.
As in all things, you are our greatest partners, and so we invite you on this journey with us! We’ll be introducing these concepts slowly over the course of the next few weeks and let you know when we do so. Here are some ways you can support and connect with your child over these big ideas:
- Share your own stories. Talk with your child about times you showed empathy or were flexible.
- Listen in on your own self talk and refine it. Be mindful of saying things like “I can’t” as in “I can’t put together this IKEA furniture!” instead try, “This feels hard, but I am going to take a break and try it a different way to see if that helps!”
- Read with your child and talk about the ways characters are acting in regards to these habits of mind.
- Read more about this! At the end of this letter you will find a list of links to articles and titles. Most are short and (hopefully) Interesting, and can give you some of the background about the work we’re doing.
I look forward to talking with you more as the year unfolds. As always, feel free to contact us with questions, comments, and concerns. It is with great pleasure that we begin this journey together.
Warmly,
Megan Murphy
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