Who Is Your Child Becoming and What Is Your Role?
Who Is Your Child Becoming and What Is Your Role?
Supporting Kids' Interests and Skills
In this newsletter, we provide you with notes on Who Is Your Child Becoming and What Is Your Role? With Erin Royer, an episode of Parenting Beyond Discipline.
Host Erin Royer, MA, Psy., is the go-to expert on all things parenting and child development for today’s common challenges. Her parenting podcast covers way more than just discipline. She dives into topics such as self-esteem, development, health, modern parenting issues, and even education.
Read our notes on how to guide your kids to develop their personal strengths, interests, and skills.
Topics Covered in this Summary
Why is it Important to Follow Children’s Interests?
Supporting Kids' Interests and Skills
Why is it Important to Follow Children’s Interests?
Childhood is all about discovery. It is a time for children to explore their surroundings and learn about the things that interest them. This does not imply that the activity they are interested in as a 4-year-old will be their lifelong passion. However, it indicates that even when they appear to be playing, they are learning more about the world.
Why is it important to follow children’s interests? Here are a few factors that tie into this concept:
Confidence. Your child may request dinosaur books or princess costumes, or your little athlete may only be delighted when kicking a soccer ball or dribbling a basketball with buddies. Giving a child a chance to do what they love fosters independence.
Friendships. Shared interests create a bond between kids. Childhood friendships provide long-term and short-term psychological benefits.
Skills. Physical activities teach children important life skills including perseverance, problem-solving, and practice. Sports, dancing, and even painting can improve a child's physical ability by boosting motor skills, and strength.
Supporting Kids' Interests and Skills
As parents, we have a unique and exciting chance to help our kids find their own interests and develop them. Sometimes they coincide with those we love, but other times they do not.
How to encourage your children's interests while allowing them the freedom to be themselves?
Children aged 5-7 years old are still in the process of discovering new things, such as music, science, and art. Let them explore, and if they want to try anything, you shouldn't stop them. However, if they end up disliking it, that's perfectly fine.
It is impossible to predict the outcomes of exploratory activities. Maintaining a certain distance from the phrase "my future scientist" or "my future doctor" is highly recommended when the kid is still under 7.
Sports psychologists recommend that children continue to participate in lessons that focus on the development of fundamental motor skills until they are around 11 years old.
Psychologists advise against becoming competitive before the age of 11. Parents can focus on their kids by playing games for fun rather than for points, as well as encouraging friendship and social interaction.
Don't overwhelm teens if they're interested in something. You can start asking questions to find out what they're interested in and help them find hobbies. This will show your child's curiosity, which will encourage them to explore and discover.
You can easily identify teens that spend all day in school and then dash between clubs, sports, and other activities. Although parents agree because they believe it will help their children explore their interests, it can often exhaust and burn out children.
Encourage children to pursue a hobby or interest when the opportunity arises. Perhaps your child has shown an interest in art but has not requested art lessons. Finding art classes in your area or asking about an art club at your child's school could be the first step in getting them to follow their passions.
It is also important to understand that discovering does not imply attempting everything. Focus on a few of your child's favorite things and figure out how to help them grow.
Useful Links
Follow All Star Parent on Facebook
Follow All Star Parent on Instagram
Follow All Star Parent on Twitter
Listen to the original episode