I’ve been interviewed on BBC Three Counties Radio today about a new survey that suggests mothers prefer children to be showboaters rather than Einsteins.
Intelligence is low down on the list of personality traits mothers would most like to see in their children, a survey has shown.
Rather than raising a little genius, the majority of mothers hope for a child who is the life and soul of the party, researchers found.
Of 142 British mothers polled, just 10% rated intelligence as the most important child characteristic.
More than half (51%) put extroversion, the trait that describes people who are sociable and outgoing, at the top of their preferences.
Conscientiousness was even less valued than intelligence, with just 9% of mothers citing this as the number one trait.
For the study, mothers were asked to choose from the “big five” personality traits recognised by psychologists, extroversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism and openness to new experiences.
A 10th picked openness as the most important trait while none picked neuroticism.
Co-author Dr Rachel Latham, also from Goldsmiths, said: “We focused on the views of mothers, as they typically spend more time with their children than fathers, but it would be useful to examine the personality values of fathers too.
“It would also be interesting to examine if mothers’ preference for extroversion changes over time as children grow older and enter formal education.
“In the long run we hope studies such as these can help us to understand how parents’ values shape a child’s personality and how this impacts on how children develop and learn and their future health, happiness, and success.”
Read the full article in News & Star
Lots of parents that I work with want their child to be confident rather than show-offs or show boaters.
If you’d like to learn more about my ‘Can Do Kid Journal for Super Heroes click here
THE CAN DO KID’ Journal for Super Heroes
Aimed at children from 7-13 The ‘Can Do Kid Journal’ is all about helping children feel more confident, more assertive and more relaxed in all areas of their lives knowing that they have some tried and tested strategies, simple practical techniques, and a highly effective set of tools, empowering them to make some small changes quickly & easily that will make a COMPLETE difference to their lives.
The ‘Can Do Kid’ Journal will empower a generation of children to become creative, innovative, independent, resourceful, resilient & confident in their own abilities to try new things, and be resourceful enough to tackle anything and bounce back after setbacks.
It will build the positive mindset, motivation & long term self-confidence & self-worth that children need to succeed as they learn to develop a ‘Can Do Kid’ attitude to Life.
What people are kindly saying:
Hi Sue, just wanted to say thank you so much for the Can Do Kid journal. I ordered it for Katie as soon as possible, it arrived Saturday morning and Katie could not wait to start filling it in. She remembers the activities we did when we came to see you. It is a great way to reinforce the lessons from the Confidence Classes. Thank you again for everything you do. Nicola
From a Learning Mentor:
I’m Fiona and I’m the Senior Learning Mentor across the Federation, my main base being at Arbourthorne. I have really enjoyed using the journals with my group of Y5’s, the children have been so keen and enthusiastic and ask me daily if we are meeting to see what’s coming up next! I have to say that the journals have taught me so much about the children individually. – F Smith, Arbouthorne School, Sheffield
From a first time user:
First copy in use already… & early feedback is great (from 2 x 10 year old girls, best friends who started working through our first copy together!
From an education professional:
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To find out even more about the Can Do Kid Journal,