Making mistakes while learning something new is very common. Making mistakes when doing something you have been doing “forever” is more common than people want to admit.

I make mistakes (and my mother corrects them when they are on this blog). You make mistakes. Children make mistakes. That is expected. The role of mistakes in the learning process is, in my opinion, undervalued.

Children who are afraid of making mistakes struggle more in their learning than those who are willing to try something without a fear of failure. Let’s teach all children to embrace mistakes and use them to help us improve their learning.

This topic has been on my mind for some time, as we seem to spend a lot of time and energy getting things right, and not enough time reviewing our mistakes as a means of learning. I was struggling with how to write a blog on this topic, and then I read The Role of Mistakes in the Classroom by Alina Tugend.

Children should be encouraged to try things that are challenging, and be prepared to make mistakes.

“What is good to know is difficult to learn.” ~ Greek proverb

Take care.