Do you ever wonder if there is a secret key to motivating your children?
Recent research noted by the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley shows that “deliberate practice” could be that key.
Here are the four principles of deliberate practice from the article:
- Working on weaknesses: Rather than doing things that you already do well, deliberate practice focuses on the things that are hard for you. For example, you might replay the part of your trumpet solo with the hard high notes that you’ve been having trouble with, rather than the parts that you know well.
- Full concentration: Deliberate practice is difficult when you face distractions that make it hard to stay on task, like noise, social media, or people nearby. Instead of writing an essay with your phone beside you while hanging out with your friends, you might go to a quiet library and tuck your phone in your backpack.
- Feedback: Deliberate practice involves finding out what you got right and where you made mistakes by asking a teacher or coach or checking your work. For example, if you made mistakes on your long-division homework, you might review your work again and talk to your teacher about how you can solve those problems correctly in the future.
- Repetition until mastery: Deliberate practice requires you to keep working on your weaknesses, stay on task, and get feedback until you master your specific goal.
Our students stay in touch with us through meetings twice a month. During these meetings, we emphasize the importance of deliberate practice in developing all nine types of intelligence. Staying accountable with a college coach helps students achieve small victories, find balance, and envision a bright future.