Growth Mindset: What It Really Means, What It Does Not, and 5 Ways to Encourage It at Home

November 9, 2026

You have probably heard the phrase growth mindset. It has become popular in schools, in parenting books, and on classroom posters. But it is also frequently misunderstood, so it is worth looking at carefully.

A growth mindset is the belief that abilities can develop through effort, good strategies, and support. The opposite, a fixed mindset, is the belief that abilities are set in stone: you are either a math person or you are not.

Children pick up on these beliefs early, and they often absorb them from the adults around them.

What the Research Says
The honest picture is more nuanced than the posters suggest.

Studies have found that students who hold a growth mindset tend to approach challenges differently. They are more likely to see effort as useful and mistakes as information. That is appealing, and it matches what we see in tutoring sessions.

At the same time, large reviews of the research have found that the average effect of growth mindset on academic achievement is weak. A well known 2018 pair of meta analyses in the journal Psychological Science, covering hundreds of studies, found only a very weak relationship between mindset and achievement, and only small effects for interventions designed to change mindset. The same analysis did find some signs that mindset interventions may help certain groups, including students who are academically at risk and students from lower income households.

So what should a parent take from this? A growth mindset is not a magic switch, and telling a child to believe in themselves will not close a gap in understanding. But believing that effort and strategy matter is a helpful foundation, as long as it comes with real support, good strategies, and appropriate challenge. That last piece is key. A child needs more than encouragement. They need to know what to do when something is hard.

The Benefits of Encouraging a Growth Mindset at Home
When it is paired with practical support, families often see:
1. Greater willingness to try difficult work
2. Less fear of making mistakes
3. More persistence when something does not click right away
4. More willingness to ask for help
5. A healthier relationship with school and with their own abilities

5 Growth Mindset Strategies You Can Use at Home
1. Praise the process, not just the result or the person. Instead of “You’re so smart,” try “I noticed how you kept working on that problem even when it got tricky.” Specific praise about effort, strategy, and persistence tells your child what to repeat. It also keeps them from feeling that a mistake means they have lost their identity as a good student.
2. Add the word “yet.” When your child says, “I can’t do fractions,” respond with “You can’t do fractions yet.” It is a small change, but it signals that the current moment is a stage rather than a final verdict. Use it yourself, too: “I haven’t figured this out yet.”
3. Talk about mistakes as normal and useful. Share your own. Tell your child about something you got wrong this week and what you learned from it. When they make an error on homework, ask, “What does this mistake tell us?” Mistakes are often the clearest window into what a child does and does not yet understand.
4. Ask learning questions instead of performance questions. Rather than “What grade did you get?” try “What was the hardest thing you worked on today?” or “What did you try when you got stuck?” These questions show your child that you care about their thinking and their effort, not only their results.
5. Pair belief with strategy. When a child says “I’ll never get this,” effort alone may not be the answer. Help them find a different approach. Could they draw the problem, break it into smaller steps, look at a worked example, or ask the teacher? Teaching children to switch strategies and to ask for help is what turns a growth mindset into growth.

One More Thing
A growth mindset does not mean everything is possible with enough willpower. Some children need extra support, and asking for it is a strength. If your child has been working hard but not seeing progress, that is a sign the approach or the support needs to change, not that they are not trying hard enough.