Summary

At the beginning of the chapter, Duckworth suggests that structured extracurricular activities are the best way for kids to develop grit because they involve a demanding adult who is not the parent and because they are designed to foster interest, practice, purpose, and hope. She suggests that parents sign their kids up for something that might interest them. School does not interest many kids, and activities like texting are not demanding. Extracurricular activities can be both interesting and demanding, on the other hand. Duckworth cites longitudinal studies that show that extracurricular activities help kids do better in school and stay out of trouble. Duckworth says that participating in more than one year of the same extracurricular activity helps kids develop grit.

Next, Duckworth discusses the Personal Qualities Project developed by Warren Willingham at Educational Testing Service (ETS...