Perfectionism for Pre-K Age Children

Perfectionism is on the rise, fueled by social pressures and unrealistic expectations. Model a growth mindset, celebrate progress over perfection, and help your child embrace learning through effort, not results.

Perfectionism is on the rise among young people! Researchers hypothesize that things like social media, , changes in culture and values, testing procedures, student ranking, and increasingly unrealistic goals are contributing to this phenomena.
Parents who are also perfectionists (aptly named ‘perfectionist parents’) may accidentally increase struggles for their children, , including lower achievement, fear of failure, internalizing problems, and higher stress levels

In front of your child, do your best to model the growth mindset and forgiveness we want to see in them. Ex: “That wasn’t my best work, but I’m excited that there’s room to grow.”
Celebrate the parenting wins and give yourself credit for your successes everyday. Be present (that means the occasional social media detox). Surround yourself with positive messages about parenting (hello, Coop Group!)
Model a forgiving, thoughtful and compassionate inner voice. Ex: “that’s OK, you’re a little late but everyone will forgive you and it will be fine anyway.”
Help your child focus on the journey, not the outcome. Reward the hard work they put in, even if the result isn’t perfect. The focus should be on the improvement against themselves. Ex: “Your dribbling improved so much from last week’s practice!”
Help your child find at least a few activities that they do for fun. It’s okay to do things that are low-stress and not competitive!
“I’m a recovering perfectionist and an aspiring ‘good-enoughist.’” - Brene Brown