According to educational psychologist and author Michele Borba, there are 7 skills that separate “kids who shine from those who struggle.” She’s the author of the books “Thrivers: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Kids Struggle and Others Shine” and “UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About Me World.”
Self-confidence
Children play in the snow at a park in Stockholm, capital of Sweden, on Jan. 9, 2022. (Photo by Wei Xuechao/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Empathy
Pasadena , CA – March 11: Children play at the Kidspace museum in Pasadena Friday, March 11, 2022. The Western monarch butterflies are returning to Southern California, and Kidspace’s annual Butterfly Season event will run from March 11 through May 31 at the childrens museum. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)
Self-control
Children play at a play ground in Jakarta on March 29, 2022. (Photo by ADEK BERRY / AFP) (Photo by ADEK BERRY/AFP via Getty Images)
Integrity
KRAKOW, POLAND – MARCH 31: Children, fled from Ukraine with their families, play during the free activities at the Dr. Henryk Jordan Youth Center in Krakow, Poland on January 31, 2021. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Curiosity
DNIPRO, UKRAINE – APRIL 06, 2022 – Animators play with the children at one of the city’s cultural and educational institutions, Dnipro, eastern Ukraine. (Photo credit should read Mykola Myakshykov/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Perseverance
WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 12: Children play and cool off in a waterfall at the Yards Park as temperatures reached 97 degrees fahrenheit on August 12, 2021 in Washington, DC. A recently released climate report from the United Nations predicts that the world will continue to warm with devastating heat waves, floods and fires becoming more frequent. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Optimism
KRAKOW, POLAND – MARCH 30: Children who fled the war in Ukraine learn how to play chess at the Dr Henryk Jordan Youth Center on March 30, 2022 in Krakow, Poland. The Polish government has said it may spend €24 billion this year hosting refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, and is seeking more support from the European Union. With more than 2.34 million Ukrainian refugees, Poland is now the country with the second-largest foreign refugee population after Turkey. (Photo by Omar Marques/Getty Images)
