At What Age Can Kids Learn Habits of the Mind?

Habits are not just there to train our kids’ bodies for the future, but their minds as well!

When we teach our kids good habits, it’s usually meant for physical health reasons. But these habits also help their minds thrive. As parents, we’re always worrying about how our kids will survive in this world.

And while information is a key currency to success, being able to apply what they know is that gap that we’re all struggling to teach to our kids. That mental flexibility is something that we often don’t value until much later in life.

So when can we teach our kids good mental habits?

Habits of the Mind can be learned early!

We’re so used to sending our kids to school just to learn their ABCs or the typical academic stuff. However, those are the things that can pressure both kids and parents. “Our educational system focuses a lot on flooding our kids with information. Both parents and kids are struggling to keep up with the topics in fear of getting left behind,” explains pediatric psychiatrist and President of Mulberry Learning Philippines Dr. Evelyn Gapuz.

But what use is information when the brain’s overwhelmed from trying to make sense of it all? That’s where critical thinking comes in—we try to piece things together like some grand jigsaw puzzle. But critical thinking is a habit of a mind that’s embedded in them, not instructed and called upon command. It’s why some studies encourage demonstrating these habits to kids as young as 18 months.

“It may raise a few eyebrows when you hear it at first,” admits Mulberry Learning Singapore’s Chief Executive Officer Yihan Peh. “But studies have proved that the golden window for brain development is before 5 years. We want parents to know about [it] so they can take the opportunity to instill good mental habits in their kids at a young age.”

How can parents encourage kids to have healthy mental habits?

It will take some time for us, parents, to unlearn prioritizing developing our kids’ IQ. But the first thing we can do is reframe the way we think about learning. Let go of the idea that a good student sits in class for the next 4 to 8 hours and can recite the ABCs. Kids are natural explorers and learn best via experience—all they need is the tools so they can learn how to interact with the world. The rest of the knowledge will come naturally.

It’s also good to have a school that supports this same philosophy like Mulberry Learning. Good habits of the mind are not something learned overnight and in one place. They are continuously encouraged in a place where kids feel supported and safe by teachers and family who believe in the same.

Check out Mulberry Learning and its branches here!

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How the K-12 Curriculum Worked But Made Teachers and Families Struggle