Praise Our Children

The best way to encourage students to do their best is by rewarding them and praising them for their effort. Many parents and teachers motivate or encourage their students and children by using phrases such as: "You got this," or "You cant give up." What they do not know is that this may be discouraging them instead. When a "smart" child is not familiar with something, they automatically turn away from it. For example,  Looking back at the article "How Not to talk to Your Kids," Thomas was challenged with cursive penmanship, he refused to try because he was afraid of not mastering it. When I try to get my nieces and nephews to do something they haven't done before, or are afraid to try, I always bribe them with a reward. For instance, my niece was afraid of the monkey bars at school, I told her to try it and I would follow behind her to help, if she tried I would buy her any candy she wanted. Even though she was not 100% successful, I told her she did good and we could keep trying, eventually she mastered it and was rewarded. In reference to the "Myth of Praise" video,  an American mother is told her child did not do so good on a test, the mother completely ignored that and acted as the child did good. A Chinese mother was told her child did not do good, the mother helped the child and 33% of those children, scored higher. This demonstrates how a child can be encouraged or discouraged by the praising of their parents.