The rule at the grit expert Angela Duckworths house? You can quit. But you cant quit on a hard day.
Very young kids, she says, should be allowed to explore, even if that means abandoning projects and even practices.
The reason its sometimes all right to let a child quit, Dr. Duckworth said, is that the predecessor to developing grit is the kind of play that leads to passion. Parents shouldnt be discouraged by those early starts and stops.
Kids dont work hard on things they dont care about, she says.
As children grow older, seeing things through becomes more important.
Instilling grit in your child requires a combination of being demanding and supportive, said Dr. Duckworth.
And parents need to model grit. Talk about the challenges you face now, or have faced in the past, and how you persisted. Tell family stories about the ways your clan just doesnt quit.
And never discount the importance of fun. Children should be allowed to try the things they gravitate toward, and those sometimes dont appear until a child has had time to explore and understand what makes him or her happy.
Source: Raising a Child With Grit Can Mean Letting Her Quit
ParentCo.
Author