How do you praise your children?

I recently wrote about a girlfriend who has made a conscious effort not to praise her step-daughters with tags like 'Beautiful' and 'Gorgeous' but instead to praise her with words like 'clever' and 'kind'. Reading this another friend sent me this article which looks at research into how praise can shape children's attitudes to education and learning. I found it really interesting, particularly the argument that praising for effort, rather than accomplishment, is a better way to boost self-esteem and participation in learning.

If you spend time helping kids with homework you might find this very interesting.

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct07/vol65/num02/The-Perils-and-Promises-of-Praise.aspx

Katherine.