Great comment. Carol Dweck has found that praise affects children's mindsets and she has identified two mindsets—a growth mindset where children believe that growth and improvement are always possible and a fixed mindset, where children believe that their capacities are inborn. The children with a fixed mindset don't want to risk "being smart," for example, and are less willing to take on challenges. The wonderful thing about this research is that "it is never too late." Adults can always change the way they praise children and this will affect children's mindsets.

I am thrilled that Mind in the Making is helpful in your understanding of children's development and thus how you teach and take care of children!

In Mind in the Making (p. 130), I summarize another study conducted as a part of The Home-School Study of Language and Literacy Development. This study found that teachers affect children's literacy skills when they use:

1. Cognitively engaging talk, such as language that goes beyond the here and now, asking children to consider "what if" questions or the past, present and future or to talk about how they own lives relate to the stories they are hearing about in books.

2. Teachers use more complex, sophisticated words when talking with children.

3. Teachers have a content-oriented curriculum plan where the teachers engage the children in thinking not only about words and sounds and meaning but also about how to analyze and think.

This study shows that preschool teachers have a very important direct impact on children's development. Teachers can also encourage parents—in positive ways—to provide more literacy support at home.

What a wonderful comment. My husband is an artist and he has spent many years studying the impact of color on "healing" and has worked with a number of hospitals to change their environments from institutional to more restful, healing places.

When I visit classrooms, I always notice whether they are places of beauty or not. I think that the classroom environment not only affects children (though I don't know of any specific research on color and self-regulation) but also affects the teachers. I hope your observation will help all teachers think about creating classrooms that nourish children's aesthetic development.

How wonderful that your goal is to encourage trust and patience in the children in your future center.

I wrote Mind in the Making in the hope that it would inspire all of us—teachers and parents—to help children develop the skills they need to thrive. And trust and patience absolutely help children thrive. So I hope that the book will give you many ideas of how to reach your goal.

Children learn to trust by being around people who are trustworthy—whom they can count on. They are less willing to venture out to explore and to learn if they don't feel safe in their center. So being there for them, having predictable routines, and being warm, caring, and responsive are all ways that you can encourage trust in children.

There are so many ways that you can encourage patience in the children you teach. Here is a link to an article I wrote for Mamapedia on this: http://www.mamapedia.com/voices/the-persistent-child-dash-turning-a-chal.... I hope you find it helpful.

The Marshmallow Test was conducted by Walter Mischel, now of Columbia University. He conducted the original experiment in the 1960s and, as he says in the video, has followed these original children now into their 40s. He was investigating, among other things, whether children did trust the adult's promise that they would get two marshmallows if they waited. Those who did have that trust and self control have fared better, though as he also says in the video, a child who didn't wait is not at all "doomed." Children can learn to trust and can learn self control.

I would love you to take a look at the many suggestions I have in Mind in the Making for teaching children to have patience. For example, even games you play with them can help.

Last weekend in Central Park in New York City, a celebration took place called The Ultimate Block Party (NAEYC was a sponsor). Thousands of families came with their children. One of the activities was the World's Largest Simon Says Game. I got to explain to all in attendance why playing that game helps children learn to pay attention, follow the rules, and learn self control—and then watch children (of all ages) and adults play the game. Having self control is one aspect of being patient.

What a moving comment! I think you have answered your own question. Although you had disabilities as a child that were hard for you (and you wish that they had been diagnosed earlier), look at all that you have accomplished. It is never too late. And wonderfully, your children have you as a mother and you can be their champions at home and with their teachers.

Most of the suggestions in Mind in the Making can be adapted for children with special needs. Teachers and parents need to watch the children and pull back if they are overwhelming children. Reading children's cues and clues is essential to promoting life skills in children.

You have just stated one of my dreams for Mind in the Making. I would LOVE to have a place where teachers could post and share examples of what they are doing to strengthen children's life skills. I think teachers could learn so much from this kind of sharing. I often do this kind of exercise when I give speeches to teachers and there are always great ideas. I will follow up with NAEYC.

The purpose of Mind in the Making is to keep the fire for learning burning brightly in children's eyes. In the book, I say again and again, that promoting these life skills must not become, in your words, "another lesson." You and I share the same concern and I know you will find that the very strong message in Mind in the Making.

All of the suggestions in the book can be adapted for students with language and social skill delays. It was suggested above that (beyond the hundreds of suggestions in Mind in the Making for promoting these skills), there be place for teachers to post and share their own good ideas. I love this idea and will discuss with NAEYC. There teachers could share some of their best practices for promoting these skills in children with special needs.

All of the suggestions can be adapted for children with language and social skill delays. I know a father with an autistic teenage who has been using the suggestions. He is taking suggestions for younger children and adapting them for his teen, with some good results so far. Please share what you do...that will be so helpful to other NAEYC members.

The development of perspective taking occurs over time. As the research of Alison Gopnik of UC Berkeley shows, children between 14 and 18 months are able to understand that someone else might like something different than they do (her broccoli and goldfish cracker experiment, described in the chapter on Perspective Taking). At around 3 to 4 years old, children begin to understand that someone else might think differently or know different things than they do (see Gopnik's experiment on Crayons and Paper Clips). However, the research of Paul Bloom of Yale and others shows that as adults--if "know" something to be true, we might think that others know it as well (he calls this the curse of knowledge).

As we all know, children and adults differ in their abilities to understand the perspectives of others (one has only to watch the evening news or think about our own latest conflict with someone else to see this). Thus, I spend a lot of time in that chapter sharing studies that show how to promote this skill in children.

If you want some specific suggestions, please let me know.

There are many reasons that children become bullies. Take a look at the research of Larry Aber of New York University (chapter on Perspective Taking), where he found that children most likely to get into conflicts with others see others' behavior as hostile when they don't have enough information to make that judgement. By teaching children to understand the perspectives of others (though literacy experiences in the classroom), they were able to reduce conflicts among children.

One of the most heartening aspects of these life skills is that it is never too late. Since the book came out, I have been working with adults (employees in companies, teachers) to help them learn these skills. That is because all of the skills involve the pre-frontal cortex, the last part of the brain to develop and a part that continues to develop in adulthood.

In each chapter in the book, after presenting the research basis for the skill and lots of stories, I include many, many suggestions for promoting the skills. I would try some of these with the 11 year old, adapting them to his age and see if they work. Obviously, if the reason he has not learned any these skills is more deep seated, you may want to look for other professional help.

I love the way you describe what you have brought to the care as an in-home family care provider!

I am so glad you make this point. We tend to think of the skill of Focus and Self Control as a passive skill—children sitting at a desk. Yet if you look at many of the suggestions I have in Mind in the Making for promoting Focus and Self Control, they stress active involvement. So encouraging children to become actively engaged in a task without interruption is a great way to help children learn this.

I am not sure how to make specific suggestions to you because I don't know the ages of the children you care for and teach. If you want to give me more information, I am happy to make more concrete suggestions.

I recently did a seminar with a group of teachers in elementary school classrooms. They were asked to select one word to describe "life these days." So many used words that depict the fast pace, stress of life. If we feel this (and it is no wonder), we may be communicating our pressures and stresses to children so I would pay attention to this as well.

Hi Karen,

You are so knowledgeable about this--I would welcome your posting suggestions too.

If at all possible, I would try to bring adults into these teachers classrooms who speak the language of the children. Children need rich language experiences in their native language or languages. If you speak a different language than the children you teach, I still would use words with the children, but help them understand your words as the parent of a young child does—pointing to the object you are naming and looking at it with your eyes, so children can connect the word you are using with the object.

Take a look at the research of Janet Werker on bi-lingual children in the book in the chapter on Communicating. Her studies are very helpful, I think. And please add to this Karen.

You are so right, Mary! We don't value curiosity enough...yet if you read the biographies or autobiographies of admirable people who have made a difference in this world, they are often described as curious.

The research of Laura Schulz of MIT is very interesting, as you note. She finds that children are most likely to be curious when they don't know how things work (there could be competing reasons). They want to explore this dissonance until they figure it out. Teachers can promote curiosity by giving children time to explore and by asking questions that help children figure out the problem that is stumping them, rather than just telling them the answer. By doing this, you are helping children be like scientists—creating hypotheses and then experiments to test these hypothesis. There is no more engaged learning than this.

You can document this happening in your classroom by calling attention to the times it happens and then sharing this information with the other children, the other teachers, and families. You can also point out times when the characters in the stories you are reading to children are curious and telling the children how important being curious it. By calling attention to curiosity in this and other ways, you will be promoting its importance.

You are absolutely right—fostering the skill is quite different than expecting children to have this skill. And all of us can continue to improve this skill, whatever our ages!

Here are some suggestions:

1. Play the games that researchers use to measure focus.
• Play the Day/Night game that Adele Diamond of New York University uses. When you show children a picture of a "sun," they are to say night. When you show them a picture of a moon, they are to say "day."
• Play the Peg Tapping Game. This is used by Clancy Blair of New York University to measure school readiness. Take a stick or pencil that you can use for tapping (drumming). If the adult taps once, the children are supposed to tap twice. If the adult taps twice, the children are to tap once. You can make the rhythms more complicated for older children.
• Play Simon Says, Do the Opposite. A researcher from Oregon State University, Megan McClelland uses this (calling it the Head-to-Toe Task) and finds that the children who do well on this task have higher scores on tests of literacy and math. If the adult says, “touch your head,” the children are supposed to touch their toes. And if the adult says, “touch your toes,” the children are to touch their heads.
• Play the Stroop Game. This is for children who can read. Write the name of a color in different color (for example, write the word green in red magic markers) and ask the children to say the color they see, not the word that’s written. It’s hard!
2. Bring children into the process and have them come up with ideas of what helps them focus.
If your children are having trouble focusing on schoolwork, ask them what ideas they have to solve this problem. I did this with my daughter and she came up with some very creative ideas to help herself focus, like putting her head down on the table for a few minutes if math homework was overwhelming.
3. Take breaks during homework time.
We often picture "focusing" as sitting still for long periods. Think about yourself. Why do some of your best ideas come popping into your mind when you are taking a walk or taking a shower? Our minds and our bodies need time for rest and recovery—so build in breaks during schoolwork time so children can rest or be active and then return to schoolwork

Can you promote critical thinking skills through what you are doing in reading. For example, ask the children questions about the stories they read, such as: Why do you think this character would do this? What kind of information did the character have to take this action? Was it enough information? If you were this character in the story, what would you have needed to know?"

In discussion time, also push back as appropriate on children's ideas. "Why do you think this is true? Can we test this idea?"

i agree that reading certainly isn't the only thing that children need. That is why I wrote Mind in the Making.

Thanks so much. I hope you let me know what you think of it.

We have dozens more videos too. I hope to keep posting them.

Family cultural differences are essential. I include suggestions in the book that come from families with different cultures. In addition, professors like yourself can adapt these ideas so that they are culturally relevant. Hope you will share some of these suggestions with the rest of us.

Thanks for your question, Emily. It is excellent and reflects an issue I have dealt with many times as a teacher and as a coordinator of an early childhood programs.

There is a great deal of research that can help explain the importance of these kind of experiences for children's learning. Take a look at the Chapter on Self Directed, Engaged Learning, specifically on the memory research by Patricia Bauer. Her findings show that children are more likely to remember information (and memory, as she says, is the center of the cognitive universe) if they have direct hands on experience and the information is meaningful.

However, given that adults are more likely to learn from first hand experience and exploration too, I would have a parent meeting and set up an experiment. Give the parents something to learn from science. In one group, give them a lecture about the information. In another, give them experiences where the teacher asks questions that help the parents extend and elaborate the information. Then ask them which one they learned the most from. The second method, you can explain, is using the scientific method.

Another idea is to take slides of the children working with materials and share all of the things they are learning..so parents can see the learning in action.

We have a video of an experiment that investigates three methods of teaching about math..exploration, direct teaching, and guided play. The guided play works best. As soon as this video is ready, we will post in on our website (mindinthemaking.org) and you can also show this to parents. So keep following for our website and we will post as soon as possible.