Studies have always shown that the way in which parents praise their children is of paramount importance.
Jenn Berman PhD, a marriage and family therapist and author of The A to Z Guide to Raising Happy and Confident Kids says, "We are becoming praise junkies as parents".
"Though well-intentioned, putting kids on a pedestal at an early age can actually hinder their growth", says Paul Donahue, founder of Child Development Associates.
On the other hand, not praising children enough can be just as harmful as too much praise.
Experts agree that the quality and type of praise is more vital than the quantity.
Latest studies have proven that excellence does not arise as much from genetic inheritance and talent, but rather from continuous practice.
While students may seem to have a certain gift, it was more because they had been provided with extra tuition at home by their parents.
Experts now believe that while some children start out with an advantage, this is not particularly pertinent.
It has been proven that with practice even the anatomy of the brain can be transformed.
The area of the brain which governs finger movement is substantially larger than for the rest of us, was revealed when pianists were studied.
However that area of the brain did not start out like that, it grew with practice.
The question of talent versus effort, rules the way a child feels, thinks and engages with the wider world.
A leading psychologist, Carol Dweck, took 400 students and gave them a simple puzzle.
Afterwards, each of the students were given words of praise.
Half were praised for effort: "You must be hard working!" The other half were praised for intelligence: "You must be really smart!" The students were then given the option to choose whether to take an easy or a hard test.
Two-thirds of the students intelligence-praised, opted for the easy task - they did not want to risk losing their "smart" label.
But 90% of the effort-praised group opted for the tough test - they wanted to prove just how hard working they were.
After that, the test came full circle, providing the students the opportunity to obtain a test of equal difficulty to the first test.
The effort-praised group augmented their score by 30 percent.
Failure had actually driven them on.
The intelligence-praised group showed a 20% drop in performance from their first test, although it was no harder.
"Praising children's intelligence harms motivation and it harms performance.
These were some of the clearest findings I've seen," said Dweck.
Three things were revealed from this study: 1.
Children should be trained to see challenges as learning opportunities, rather than intimidations.
2.
Kids should be praised for effort, not talent.
3.
Anyone interacting with children should understand that abilities can be changed.
Susan Syddall an experienced early childhood teacher, has often proven the success of this method of gaining tremendous results.
Susan currently home schools her two boys, who learn through fun.