How to raise a confident learner, according to the president of LEGO education

We all want our children to be confident and resilient, but often the conversation around confidence is tied to the social aspects of a new school year: new friends, the first day of school outfit, who to sit with during lunch. In many cases, we aren’t always thinking about the role confidence in learning plays as students take on a new curriculum that comes with a more advanced academic year.

Confidence in learning is an important distinction because this type of confidence is what helps students try new things and overcome the perception that they are inherently bad at a given subject area. Confident learners see failure as a process that requires iteration—or learning from a mistake and trying again—instead of disengaging or shutting down in fear of getting the answer wrong or receiving negative feedback.

At LEGO Education, we believe the best way to build this confidence is by getting students out of their desks and learning in a hands-on way. In fact, our recent survey found that 90% of teachers believe hands-on learning builds students’ confidence, and students say they tend to remember topics longer when they learn through hands-on projects.

Learning doesn’t end with the school day, and I believe parents like us have an important role to play in continuing to cultivate our children’s learning at home.

Here are a few tips to help your child become a confident learner in school:

1. Get involved

There are countless ways for you to be present in your child’s education, so don’t be afraid to jump in, try new things, and find what works best for you and your family. Whether you advocate for more hands-on learning in your child’s school, help in their classroom or ask your child open-ended questions about what they’re learning, parent engagement can play a key role in supporting learning inside and outside the classroom.

2. Rethink what failure means

Failure is essential to learning but still comes with a negative connotation—47% of students avoid subjects where they have failed before, yet 90% of teachers agree that students need to learn to fail to become more confident and succeed in school. Remember, failure is a process, not an endpoint. Everyone makes mistakes, but it becomes meaningful when we reflect and learn from it. Instead of reacting negatively, try asking what your child learned and encourage them to try again. You can also use the moment to share your own experience of a time you failed and how your confidence helped you overcome it.

3. Recognize effort, not just success

It can feel natural to reward success, but the learning journey is just as important. Next time, instead of posting the A+ test on the refrigerator, start a conversation with your child about how you noticed how hard they worked and studied leading up to it. By changing how you respond to success you are in turn reshaping how your child perceives what is valuable in the learning process.

4. Provide blank space

Give kids the opportunity to be creative and curious. It’s easy to fall into a routine with a packed calendar of extracurricular activities and playdates, but allowing kids the time and space to explore their own curiosities through free play will help reinforce the valuable skills they learn at school. Encourage your child to play in whatever way they’d like—outside, playing pretend, an arts and crafts project. Their imagination and choices might surprise you!

5. Allow kids to be their own heroes

When kids face a roadblock, such as a math problem they can’t solve, it’s natural to want to jump in and find a solution for them but sometimes it’s best to let them try first. In many situations, having the freedom to try it themselves first can also help develop real-world skills such as creative thinking and effective communication, in addition to new academic skills.

6. Let the student become the teacher

If your child is excited about something they’ve learned in school recently, harness that joy and engagement by asking them to teach you about the topic. Not only are they reinforcing the subject matter in their own brain, but they will also feel confident and empowered teaching an adult and being an expert in something that interests them.

7. Sign up for STEAM teams

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• Does my child have a learning issue? 10 steps to take to find out