It’s Not Easy

An activity become “easy” after a child tries it a first time and practices it.

Learning Seeds Engagement Strategies

Comic Strip by Cynthia Yuan Cheng

Challenging Moment: When a peer labels something as “easy” it may make other children feel badly for not being able to complete this task yet.

A Strategy to Try: It’s Not Easy

When a child says something is “easy” it can be helpful to point out that it wasn’t always easy. Acknowledge the work that the child did by practicing a skill until it was easy for them. Make sure peers hear you say that the task is challenging, so that they know it’s okay to find this task hard.

What Happens: By hearing that a task is hard and requires practice, the child uses a growth mindset and may be more willing to try the challenging task.