As a kindergarten teacher of many years, I have noticed that children sometimes possess the notion that because they are not yet able to do with the same skill level or precision the things that, for example, their older siblings can now do, that they cannot or will never be able to do such things. In this session, children will work together with one another and with me to disassemble this “I can’t” attitude and construct in its place a more productive “can-do” attitude by understanding a bit about the plasticity of our brains and the joys of trying something new or taking on a challenge with a positive disposition. In my experience, once children begin to understand that their brains are always growing and changing – and that accepting challenges and new experiences is a large part of that brain-development process – they start to take on a positive attitude toward learning and see challenging learning material or concepts as opportunities to grow and become “big kids.”

In this session, children will learn what a growth mindset is and how our brains are continually growing – especially as we accept challenges and new experiences into our lives. Children will sing a song about the concept of growth mindset and they will then read a bubbly short story with me called BoBo the Can-Do Cat, a cat with a growth mindset who takes on new experiences and exhorts his readers to do the same! The children will – with me and with the other learners in the session – discuss what BoBo achieves with his positive attitude toward learning. Children will each have the opportunity to explain what a growth mindset means to them and then to identify what they hope to achieve by maintaining a positive disposition toward challenges and learning. As a kindergarten teacher of 15 years, I have found that young children benefit greatly from developing a growth mindset – and song, story, discussion and practice are the tools to bring this important understanding to life. Join me!