Praise should deal, not with the child’s personality attributes, but with his efforts and achievements.”
- Carol S. Dweck in “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success”

“…a just man falls seven times and rises up again” (Proverbs 24:16).

Sailaap is ten years old and in the third grade. She loves to be challenged and learn new things. This was not always the case.

Sailaap has been one of our students at the creative learning center for about two years now. When she first came to us, she had a mostly fixed mindset like most of her friends. The teachers at Sailaap’s school praise the smart kids for being smart whether or not they put any real effort into their work — one of the unfortunate hallmarks of a fixed mindset. The teachers try to help the students who have been labeled as slow or unintelligent, but they never really praise the kids for trying.

When Sailaap first came to the creative learning center, she did not really believe that she could do mathematics on her own and would mostly copy her friends’ math homework. Nobody had ever really encouraged her to try or praised her for making an effort even when she got a problem wrong.

Teacher Tonya and Teacher Ming have worked tirelessly in tutoring Sailaap and her friends in mathematics. Recently, Sailaap exclaimed to Teacher Ming: “I understand this math homework now. I can figure it by myself. I don’t need to copy my friends’ homework.”

Now, we often ask Sailaap to help the younger students at our school with their math homework because she has begun to value the effort and believe that she can teach someone else.

If you would like to join our missionary support team to help kids like Sailaap grow and develop into leaders, please consider donating or making a new monthly pledge to our ministry to the Isan people of Thailand.

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