Identify your child’s passion
– Tips for parents by Mrs. Meenal Arora
Children are born with special talents that make them capable of doing great things in life. Those special talents, if discovered and nurtured in the early childhood, can help them in finding the path to success. To utilise their inherent talents in the most productive way, all they need is a mentor who can show them how to enhance their natural abilities to achieve success. Parents act as the guiding source of light, who can show the right path to their children and motivate them to bring out the best of their abilities. However, many parents, instead of identifying and nurturing their children’s passion, natural aptitude and inclinations, try to channelise their children’s minds to choose only those hobbies & activities, which they think are more popular, practical, productive and useful for them. In fact, many parents often do not realise that narrowing down their children’s minds towards only those specific activities may not necessarily bring out the best of their inherent talents. Your child may have deep interest in certain activities that attracts her attention. Such activities may be the signs of your child’s hidden talents, which may be an inherent part of her. As a parent, you need to identify those inherent talents in your child and then provide her with the required recognition, guidance, encouragement and moral support to nurture them. Here are some useful tips which will help you to identify and enhance your child’s talents.
Develop a positive approach – Firstly, put aside all your prejudices and perceptions about the ideal activities that your child should do because what you like may not be necessarily your child’s choice too. With this positive outlook, you will be able to show your genuine appreciation for your child’s choices.
Review your child’s activities during her leisure time – See what your child likes to do during free time, as the roots of her hidden talents may lie in her favourite pastime. For this, expose your child to a variety of healthy & productive activities and see which activity she is inclined to. For instance, see whether she opts for drawing & colouring or reading story books; playing brain-teasing board games or playing outdoors with friends etc. Your observation will give you a good idea of your child’s talents.
Identify and nurture her special skills – Encourage your child to utilise her special talents in the activities that can bring out the best in her. For instance, if your child likes sorting her toys as per shapes and sizes, she may be good at organising things and objects. To nurture this, bring her toys such as building blocks, shape sorter toys etc. If your child is keen at narrating stories using her imaginations, ask her to create a story on her own and then narrate it to you. If your child often gets immersed in her own thoughts, enroll into art classes wherein she can nurture her creative skills and also raise her imagination level. This way, providing your child with the right exposure will enhance her special talents.
Keep a track of your child’s interests at school – Meet your child’s teacher on a regular basis and have a one-on-one discussion with her, to find out if your child does exceptionally well in a particular subject or an activity. Also, ask her teacher about how you can help your child at home to support her academic interests and co-curricular interests.
Set the right environment at home – After you find out your child’s interests at school, set the environment at home wherein she can get engrossed in the activities of her choice. For this, schedule her study & play time in such a way that she will be able to give enough time to pursue those activities and study the particular subject which she likes the most.
Encourage her to join hobby classes – To further help your child to enhance her skills and fulfill her interests, provide your child with opportunity to explore new activities by enrolling her in arts/dance/music/self-defense hobby classes. After your child spends a couple of months in the classes, look whether she shows progress in learning the new activity. Also, ask her whether she wants to continue in the hobby classes or not.
Be the source of inspiration – Always be there to support and motivate your child to chase her dreams. Praise your child for not only success but also her efforts to succeed in what she does. Also, tell her that there is always, a scope for improvement, as she has the capability to learn more. This way, your child will stay self-motivated to accomplish her goals. In the end, do not force your child to achieve perfection in whatever she does. Let your child take risks and learn from her mistakes. Also, remember that you need to foster your child’s passion and give the right direction as well as take care of her overall development. Ensure that your child stays committed to her passion, at the same time, does not deviate from her academic career and social life. So, help your child to maintain the right balance between her special interests and her physical, mental, social and intellectual growth & development. A balanced approach will not only boost your child’s confidence and capability to chase her dreams to fulfill her potential, but will also complete your role as a loving, caring, supporting and an inspiring parent.
