This is the question I have been mulling over lately; well, by lately, I mean until the last couple weeks, at which point the question shifted to "How do we make our son NOT like T*ger W*oods?" I don't care how old my son is, I will beat his behind if he treats a woman like that.
Anyway.
The whole point of the question was focused on talents. I firmly believe that we all have certain talents that we are just genius at. I think the difference is some children have those talents identified early and honed. Those become the amazing talented adults.
So the question becomes, how do we discover our kids' talents and give them the tools and motivation to cultivate them? The follow up question is "How hard do we push?"
I don't have an answer for that.
I guess for me, I feel strongly that Little Bug has a natural talent for music. So, do I just pick an instrument for him? Do we expose him to a bunch and see which he likes? How soon?
Last night I went to a concert and one of the string masters was Asian (not Korean). I try not to, but when I see Asian men, I often find myself envisioning Little Bug as a grown man. Watching that man on stage having the time of his life and performing in a way I have never seen before, I found myself flashing forward 20 years and thinking about how cool it would be if that was my son. How did that man get to where he was last night? How can I help Little Bug get there if he wants to?
Maybe I can't. Maybe it's complete sheer luck, but I think not. I am convinced my son has some genius in him...how and to what extent do I tease that out of him?
I think we might steer him away from golf though....
Ugh, Tiger - boo! I agree that we all have certain talents. I can tell you from my personal perspective, my mother had me try almost everything. I'm not joking I took ice skating, violin lessons, ballet, swimming, t-ball, art classes, etc. Through all of that she discovered I was artistic and that I loved it. Now I'm not a famous artist and she never pushed me, but at least she had me TRY things. I'm definitely going to follow the same path with X.
ReplyDeleteKris! i played the violin too!
ReplyDeleteCori, i have often wondered this too - not about Tiger :), but about finding our son's talents. we *think* Cohen will have an affinity for sports, but of course we aren't totally sure! but i think i like Kris' idea of exposing our kids to lots of different things so they can figure out what they love. and i agree, we'll be steering C away from golf!
Like Kris, my mother's approach was to expose me to lots of different things. I didn't do everything all at once... but we'd try a couple of things at a time. I stuck with some and others I tried only once. I've already started a similar path for my kids. My goal is to NOT 'push' and avoid over-scheduling (I still want my kids to be kids, to play, and spend time as a family). Anyways, I'm watching to see 'how' they do but most importantly, I'm looking to see if they're happy.
ReplyDelete(A big BOO to Tiger - yuck!)
Hannah is in an "arts enrichment" preschool program where she has music class, dance class, and art class nearly every day taught by experienced professionals in each field. If you can find something like that, I'd recommend it. I think it's a great introduction to music, art, and dance, and we are getting an idea of what she's really interested in and good at. She really loves it.
ReplyDelete