”Teach your kids that most problems in this world are really opportunities in disguise, and innovation comes from discontent.”(Steve Andraka)
Every child is gifted according to distinctive taste, abilities, preferences and style. Each child is good at something and has a mix of skills. Helping your children tap into their innermost talents is one of the greatest gifts you can give them. Latent skills or talents vary in different ways therefore one must pay attention to discover the inner treasure in them. Every child is unique; some just open their talent pack later than others. Children have different ways of approaching, comprehending, and engaging problems and answers according to their ability levels. Children can display intelligence in many different ways such as through words, numbers, music, pictures (art), athletics or other skills. One of the most important things you will ever do as a parent will be to help your children discover their talents and find joy in developing /using them.
Provide a broad spectrum of experiences: Each person expresses intelligence in different areas. Get them involved with the right peer activities. Expose them to a broad spectrum of experiences; let them discover their own interests. Pay attention to activities they choose, and encourage imaginative play as well as reading.
Note: Using incentives to get children to perform sends a message that learning is not rewarding in its own right.
Observe: While observing, find out if your child is introverted or extroverted. Engage them in activities accordingly.
Listen to your child: Listen to those things they care about the most, they are clues to their special talents. Accept and use such tendencies to see things differently. Try to build self-confidence in them through not pressurising them in things they’re not fond of. Encourage them to translate their interests into stories, pictures, collections, and inventions.
Communicate: Help your child open up to the beauties and wonders of the world via fascinating questions like: Why is the sky blue? Why is water wet? Come up with answers together. You can ask your child what they aspire to be in the future. Answers to such questions will give you an insight and guide you on where to focus your attention.
Encourage independence and limit set rules: Petty rules stifle creativity, teach them how to live outside of the box. Give them space at home to be creative. A lack of discovery will result in a lack of experience because there’s no creative reference point to begin with. Children should be independent with reasonable limits and boundaries.
Don’t limit your child with certain tags or labels, it may saddle them with reputations that don’t reflect their inner gifts. Encourage, but don’t push, remember you are your child’s best advocate and resource.
