hobbies

How to Spot Your Child’s Natural Interests

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

What is a natural interest? A natural interest is an area of life that you’re drawn to! For a lot of people, they might call this their hobby or side project. Natural interests can cover a vast variety of subjects – from a specific animal to the overarching act of reading, to drawing with charcoal or recording/writing music! Natural interests are our callings. So how do you spot this in your child from an early age?

Identifying your child’s natural interests can help guide their growth and learning! Here are some simple ways to spot what excites and intrigues them:

  1. Observe Their Early Play: Pay attention to the activities they choose most often — whether it’s building, drawing, or imaginative play! These can reveal their passions, such as an interest in architecture, fashion, or writing creative stories!
  2. Follow Their Questions: The “why” and “how” questions they ask can point to what they’re curious about, like science, nature, or history!
  3. Notice What Captures Their Attention: Take note of what they focus on for long periods and what they ask to learn more about — this shows what they’re naturally drawn to!
  4. Encourage Exploration: Provide different activities (arts, sports, books) and see what excites them the most! Giving them a variety of topics to learn about can help you notice which ones they focus on the most! By observing your child’s play, questions, and actions, you can help nurture their natural interests and encourage their growth!

Learn more about preparing your child for their future calling/career here.

Find journals for every possible area of interest imaginable by clicking the image below!

Giving Your Children the Gift of Time

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / 1 Comment

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These paintings are by my daughter Rachel, age 16. How did she get so good? How can you help your children develop their talents at a young age?

Give your children the gift of TIME, and invest in their passions.

One beautiful thing about being home with our families is the chance we have to let our children totally immerse in their passions. Embrace the unique opportunity of TODAY. Because of Covid-19 we are all living more home-centered lives. Let this extra time at home be a time in your family when talents bloom and grow.

1. Chill. Stop pushing them in the direction you want them to go in.  Let go of anything, including irrelevant schoolwork, that stresses your children, or brings contention between you and your children. Stop focusing on the child’s weaknesses and total invest in their gifts instead. Let your child focus on becoming who they want to become. Take your child’s hobbies and interests seriously.

2. Allow Boredom. We don’t need to entertain our children. We need to empower them. What an incredible opportunity we have to set aside all the clutter, business, non-essentials and immerse in our talents. Let your children become bored without immediately feeding their boredom with a screen, an activity, a plan, a game, or worksheets. Let them learn to muse, have ideas, become thinkers, inventors, artists, dreamers and creators.

3. Give. When your child shows interest in something, give them the time they need to explore that interest. If possible provide books, tutorials and supplies to help them learn more. Let them go beyond learning about it to actually DOING it themselves.

4. Leave them alone. When you see that your child is truly immerses in their passion, don’t interrupt them. To become great at anything a person needs to get into the FLOW. They need to lose themselves in their passion while they work on their project. It’s like they are in another world. They can focus deeply and pour their mind and imagination into learning and creating. When your child is in the FLOW and totally losing track of time, really focused, that’s when talent is taking over. Respect your child’s focus.

5. Celebrate their work. Don’t expect perfection to develop quickly. Praise progress, creativity, and focus. Display their work in the home and on social media. Show others how proud you are of your child’s efforts and talents.

In our normal rushed and busy life children are burdened with so many things they must do. Let it all fall away, and let them become who the were meant to be.