The Importance of Celebrating Mistakes

As parents, we want the best for our children. Every child is unique and full of potential; and with the right guidance and support, they can amaze you with their abilities. However, in the pursuit of betterment, there is a tricky area that all parents must navigate - how do you deal with mistakes made by children, especially when it comes to studies and learning?

My years of teaching tell me that the answer to this question is simple. Don’t discourage children from making mistakes. 

There’s no learning journey that is devoid of ups and downs; and if we want children to truly develop a love for what they learn, then helping them transform their mistakes into their strengths is key. Here are all the ways that mistakes help in effective learning.

It’s science

The verdict on mistakes has been in the world of science for a while. Multiple studies show that when children make mistakes, they are forced to look at alternate solutions, thereby strengthening their thinking and neural pathways. Whenever a student makes a mistake, the overall neural activity in the brain increases thereby encoding information more deeply. 

Keep trying

Mistakes are a great way for children to learn the “never give up” spirit. I doubt excellence is ever mastered on the first try and when children make a mistake, it gives them one more opportunity to exercise their hard work and persistence! Only with the spirit to keep trying can students bring out their best and mistakes give them those golden chances to hone themselves. Thomas Edison is said to have tested close to 6000 filaments for the light bulb. If he would have stopped earlier the course of science may have been very different!

Avoid fear

In academics, there is unfortunately one common subject that students around the world seem to fear - mathematics. A large contributor to this, I believe, is the avoidance of mistakes when maths is taught formally. By teaching children that getting a sum incorrect is “wrong” on their part or reflects their aptitude in the subject, we set in fear for the subject before giving children a real chance to try their hand at it. Instead, by encouraging children to learn from their mistakes, we can help them stay open and even develop a flair for it!

In the path of creating and innovating, there is seldom an avenue where you can avoid mistakes. Helping children embrace mistakes in learning during student life can help them develop realistic expectations from adult life too.

We don’t all learn job skills perfectly from the get-go, we don’t all get the project right on every single try, but it’s learning from our mistakes that keeps us going and helps us improve. Shouldn’t we then celebrate each mistake as a learning for a better try the next time?