The Greatest Gift to Give

The Greatest Gift to Give

October 14, 2013

Ready or not … Christmas is coming, but wait, don’t shoot the messenger yet.  My thoughts are about gifts … just not Christmas gifts.

Practicing parenting skills and instill a love for learning is an incredible gift.  Here is an important insight from our current favorite read by Carol S. Dweck. 

Her quote:

“If parents want to give their children a gift, the best thing they can do is teach their children this:

~Love challenges

~Be intrigued by mistakes

~Enjoy effort

~Keep learning”

~Carol S. Dweck

As we relate this to the process of learning a musical skill we readily see the correlation.  Now amplify that as a life skill for all areas and you compound the effect.  You turn your student into a “can-do” person who sees challenges as opportunities, not as failure traps.

Michelangelo, sculptor and painter is famous for saying this …

“I’m still learning.”

Challenges and mistakes are not the enemy.  It is our attitude toward them that defeats us from the start.

Keep teaching. 

Keep parenting.

Keep instilling these great character traits into your child.  It will pay off.

Carolyn Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student