My child is 3 years old. I guess she is very young to find her passion but my question is how can we identify her interest and grooming up that part of interest so it can be her passion?
Your child is in the formative years and the good news is that she’s bubbly, curious and keen to know more, best times to watch her interests closely and in a few years you will know her actual interest. As parents we need to have loads of patience for this activity.
My child is very good at speaking and she constantly keeps on talking. Can you suggest some good fields which will interest her?
When you ask for a field, I am assuming what interest/hobby she should pursue. Nurture her to take part in competitions in schools, Helen o grady has good dramatic classes etc, since communication is her strength, and getting her to participate in events in schools etc content will get built in her delivery. By then there will be good clarity on the way forward. Today good communication skills is the key for every successful person, and if your child is gifted cultivate it.
My twins are 5 years old. One finds interest in singing, colouring, drawing and dancing. How to know his passion? The other one is interested in outdoor activities like badminton football and other games also colouring but how to know his passion? Please advise.
Let both of them explore this world with your supervision, they are still shaping up. As they come close to teens with limited time in hand they will choose what they love the most and drop the rest, till then let them explore. Yes, as parent twins it will be a hand full exercise to find out about both , but it is worth the effort, somewhere you will find some common areas. Spend good time with them.
My daughter is going to be 7 soon. She is into badminton, kathak, ballet, coding to name a few. She loves reading. How do I really find out her passion at this juncture? She tells me to decide everything for her.
Today kids are best multitaskers if you actually see their schedule, don’t decide for her, but aid her with good info about all the areas of interest for at least a few more years, all areas have good scope and exposure to grow, when academics comes closer to her, then she will chose the best.
My little one is 5 years old. She is an active, smart and confident child. She performs very good in whatever she does but the problem is she loses interest in everything very quickly. One day she loves drawing, the next day, she will not even look at it. How to make her focussed?
This is very natural of a child, in fact we as adults need to develop this quality, as long as she is active dont worry, ensure she is exposed to more and more challenging activities and as a parent you too should be fully involved, with time she will hit her sweet spot, don’t worry.
My child is 2.8 years old. Her attention span or interest for things is very limited. I feel this age is to widen the mind to think and evolve. But I am scared because she doesn't sit at once to do new things. Is there something I can do or learn myself to give her the scope to learn better? This may be off topic. If the question is relevant to you then awaiting reply.
Good question, while your child is active, she is watching you, as parents we are role models in all sense, so if you have a hobby or interest keep pursuing and give her the opportunity to explore , she will do well.
My child is 3 years old, and I wish to expose her to various activities to understand her interest. Could you help me understand what strategies I should use to do so? I mean what should be the minimum duration for each activity? Currently she is thoroughly enjoying her dance classes so I wish to continue that.
One can adopt very simple and easy ways to know our child interest such as spend time with them when they do they homework, introduce them to different sports and instruments, take them to art galleries, get them to help in daily chores like gardening, tell them what is happening around, take them to movies and malls and come and ask them what they experienced liked, etc such instances will give you enough data points to know her interests.
My daughter is 12 years old. She is good at her academics, shows interest in most of the activities. But I'm not able to guide her to choose or understand different career options. Is there any book that mentions qualifications and scope of different careers.
There are many good career guidance websites and agencies who can help, if she is 12 years old she is still in school, don’t worry too much ask her to finish her 10th with good scores, and then decide career options. Maybe you should start doing your research on various options available while she is focusing on her studies now. Schools also generally help in this.
My daughter is 7 years old, she is very energetic, likes to play badminton, cricket, kitchen set , dancing and abacus. How to find out her passion?
I just answered some time back, your daughter is still young so let her continue to explore in all the fields. You can decide as she is finishing her highschool in terms of which field etc. Expose her as much as possible in all her areas of interest.
My daughter is 13 years old and she loves badminton. She went for 2 years, but couldn't be that successful so we stopped her and asked her to concentrate on academics as she is now in 9th. Is this a right decision?
It’s too early to decide if the child is successful or not in a sport, I think you should allow her to continue playing and stop talking about results, sports today acts as a big stress busters in a child’s life, Today there’s so much info on advantages of sports, so please get her to play again if you have stopped her, but if she has stopped by herself, speak with her and find out the reason why rectify the issues and put her back to action. She will do well in acads too.
Can I shape my little one's career into the career of my choice?
You are lucky if your child will adapt to your choice, else let your child explore by her/himself.
My daughter is 10 years old, she is good at sports and has tried football, basketball and badminton. Also she likes dance and music. Our question is how to identify her choice as she changes as per her mood.
Give it time, but ensure she continues, as kids go close to teens as parents we need to understand them differently so if she doesn’t enjoy any activity anymore chat up why and then decide, sometimes kids find an easy way to avoid hard work that should not happen.
My son is 15 years old. He had a speech problem. He is not good at studying. He likes only making craft work. What do I do for him?
Your child is gifted, please expose him to the creative side of today’s world, please be part of communities which promote art and creativity, there is ample opportunity, he can communicate to the world with his work, don’t worry. Be by his side and encourage him and ensure he has a supportive environment.
My 10 year old son has shown an interest in learning french. Can you suggest any good online course for him in these times of lockdown?
He can learn french online. There are many free videos he can refer to.
My son has given his 10th grade this year. Also he has been a very passionate chess player winning many tournaments but we needed to stop him in his 9th for studies as we saw he wasn't able to concentrate on studies and chess at the same time. Studies were getting gravely affected so much so that the school had to give us an ultimatum that he will lose a year but in ninth he picked up very nicely and scored good mostly with his own initiative and efforts. In the same while, he got interested in physics a lot. Now he is planning to take up engg or physics and aiming for IIT. But I notice that though he is driven by interest, he loses focus, gets distracted though he reads a lot and watches many videos on the subject. He does not appear to have much interest in real world issues in spite of being encouraged or even led to some. Is physics really interesting to him? We encourage him to find more about different fields and jobs but limited success there. I am afraid he might choose something which was a temporary interest. Sorry for the long post.
16/17/18 years in a child is a challenging phase as a parent to deal with, your child is basically intelligent so if he makes up his mind he will do. It’s an age to get carried away, we as parents need to have the skill to handle and yet not let focus dilute. How this needs to be handled depends from family to family. All that i can say, keep up your efforts, he will come back, just because he was interested in physics it does not mean he will continue to, if he comes back with something better, accept and encourage him to excel in it. Please handle this patch with patience.
My son is 12 years old. He is good in academics but not showing interest in any sports. How can I involve him in sports as he is a bit lazy and loves only playing chess.
Sports does not mean only physical activity. So it’s fine, but basic physical activity for keeping up good health is needed. So as a parent if we start following a discipline of physical activity like walks or run or yoga am sure he will be enthused to join. Parents need to walk the talk.
I do not have a clear idea about the various courses available, about the entrance exams to get into a field, etc. Can you suggest any site where I can get all the details to guide my daughter?
This question is beyond the scope of today’s topic. I am sure the admin has taken note of this. Good luck.
My son is 4 years old. He doesn't show interest in anything except cars and trucks and police vehicles should I encourage his interest in that? And also I want to develop his interest in other things also like painting crafts etc.
He is very small, typical of kids, let him enjoy what he does, take him to aerospace exhibitions, air force shows etc, expose him as much as possible, as parents we need to take time out of our busy schedule and spend time to know our children better only then we can identify his/her interest, it’s a join journey and not solo. Best wishes.
How much is too much when it comes to sending your kids for activities? I am asking for a 9 year old.
Good question, there is no straight jacket reply , we has seen in today’s chat there are kids who are able to do multiple things at one time effortlessly and are spoilt for choices, in which case they should allowed to continue, but if the kids are sent to multiple activities because of various reasons other than sheer interest levels of the child then one should stop upto a point. may be what he/she is willingly wanting to do. So we would need to understand our child and take a call.
My daughter is hyperactive and sincere too but sometimes she misbehaves and overreacts when I don't listen to her wishes.
Your question is best answered by an expert, I am sure the admin has taken note of your point. Take care.
My daughter is 6.5 years old and interested in dance only but when I ask her to practice for 2 hours in a day, she refuses. What else activity can I expose to her to explore her passion?
Does she need to practice for 2 hours every day? At 6.5 years, she may also want to do other activities, so if it’s not mandatory for 2 hours, consider an optimum time and ask her to practice, sometimes, you need to encourage her. In Spite of it, if she’s not interested, then start exposing her to other art forms, music etc, since she is small she will pick up very fast. But somewhere if she wants to excel you would need to gradually get her to realise that there is not substitute to hard work.
Children can lead us to the right answers during around 8 or 9 years of age. Yet as a parent you have to perform the balancing act and decide on what to pursue. Time is limited for the child. What do you suggest in this case?
I agree with you, some children spot it at an early age and some take time, but that does not mean they will not excel. Give it time, here we cannot say there is no time, we cannot go against nature, yes we need to ensure enough resource support is given to them. The beauty of passion is from heart and mind, even in the midnight one does not mind indulging in the passion.Good luck.
How could we know if that's a child's passion at this age of 12 and whether it's her long term goal too?
With children we need to measure it bit by bit, today we have musicians/sports people who have graduated as engineers once upon a time. So at 12, long term definition needs to be truncated to short to medium term.
Ganga.S – How to identify the Passion in your child
Ganga.S – How to identify the Passion in your child
Ganga S has 28 years of work experience. She has been a corporate banker for 15 years and has over 13 years of experience in the education sector with leading educational institutions both as a faculty and administrator. She has worked with SPJIMR,SINE,IITB to name a few and now works with Entrepreneurs in the startup ecosystem.