7 June 2016

Helping a Child Discover Her Talents

helpingachilddiscoverhertalents-1

If a child has a talent won’t it just appear without any encouragement? If you’re meant to be an artist, it will be very evident. The same with being a writer or a musician or even a fireman. Surely, a talent can’t stay hidden? Or maybe it can.

When I was growing up, I didn’t think I had any talents. I was an unremarkable child. I was rather ordinary. I used to dream about being someone special without realising that I already was special. (All children are.) I just didn’t know it.

As an adult, I have discovered I do indeed have many talents. So why didn’t I find this out as a child? I don’t think I experienced the right conditions for my talents to become obvious.

The other day, I watched a Ken Robinson video on Youtube. It’s called Life is Your Talents Discovered. Ken Robinson said: “Talent is often buried. You have to go looking for it, and create the conditions for it.”

I used those words as a starting point for this week’s podcast. In episode 73, I explored how we can help our children discover their special talents. I invited my 21-year-old daughter, Imogen to join me so she could share her own experiences and thoughts on this topic.

In particular, we discussed the following questions:

  • Do children’s talents need the right environment in order to be discovered?
  • How can parents create that environment?
  • How can we support a child’s talents?
  • Should we be worried if a teenager doesn’t know what she wants to do as a future career?
  • Do we put too many pressures on teenagers?
  • How can we help children who seem to have no interests?
  • What if children don’t want to do anything but watch TV?
  • What if they don’t want to do anything but play?
  • Is play valuable? How has it helped Imogen as a musician and writer?
  • Do parents feel pressured to offer their kids impressive learning experiences? Do they feel pressured to show others that their kids are doing impressive things? Are we all too competitive?
  • How did we cope with multi-aged kids, including babies and toddlers, while homeschooling?
READ  Stories About Connection from Radical Unschool Love

Show Notes

Life is Your Talents Discovered: Sir Ken Robinson

 

 

Images: If you’ve watched Imogen’s latest music video, The Sound of Silence, you’ll know I took these photos during the video shoot!

Also, feel welcome to stop by to comment or just say hello. I’d love to hear from you!

Thank you for listening to this week’s podcast!

Sue Elvis

I'm an Australian blogger, podcaster, and Youtuber. I write and speak about unschooling, parenting and family life. I'm also the author of the unschooling books 'Curious Unschoolers', 'Radical Unschool Love' and ‘The Unschool Challenge’. You'll find them on Amazon!

2 Comments

    • Sarah-Anne,

      I'm so glad you could relate to our podcast conversation!

      Thank you so much for the link to your post. I enjoyed it very much. I especially love the final paragraph:

      "The recipe for learning was simple to me–curiosity, a dad with a big library, and a rebel mom who had dropped out of the comparison game completely."

      I am similar to your mother? Oh, I do like the thought of being a rebel mum!

      Thank you for stopping by and commenting. I'm so pleased you did!

Leave a Reply to Sue ElvisCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Previous Story

It’s Not a Periscope 4: Morning Tea and Library Books

Next Story

Do You Make Time for Play?

Go toTop