How to Help Your Child Find their Passion

We all have passions. An inner calling and talents. It’s just a matter of finding out what they are. It can help to make life easier when looking for a career and renew a child’s interest in school as they will have an understanding of what it is that they want to pursue and how school fits. Where children tend to struggle is in knowing their strengths and what they are passionate about. It’s not until later in life that many of us really discover this and by then it can be too late as we’ve missed out on several opportunities. Here are some ideas below from a prep school in Surrey on how you can help your child find what they are passionate about.

Observe

As their parent, you will know your child better than anyone else. Their personality and the things that they enjoy doing. It makes you a good judge of what they will like and dislike with regards to hobbies and interests. Do they like creating things? Being left to their devices or working in a team? Or are they more of an observer who likes to research and analyse how things are done? You can toy with different hobbies and encourage them to get involved. There’s no harm in trying anything new. If it’s something that they don’t happen to like, they’ve at least learned something new. 

Expectations

What’s important to remember is that you should never force your child into something that they don’t like. We see too often parents who are over ambitious and enthusiastic about helping their children that they almost overstep the mark and take over, forcing their child into things that they hate or have no interest in pursuing. Not only is that wasteful for you as their parent who’s investing in their development but also for them who’s time’s being wasted and will not see much benefit. Instead, we recommend taking a more relaxed approach. Talk to them to see what they like and avoid placing any expectation.

Extra-Curricular Activities

Schools not only aim to educate their pupils, but to also help them develop holistically by offering them a range of enriching learning activities and extracurricular opportunities. Outside of class many host timetable activities that run around the school day – before, during and after school. Some of these activities are sports related whilst others are just for fun like chess and music clubs which give children the opportunity to gain new skills. The best thing about these activities is that they are held on school site so you won’t need to worry about your child making it to football practice etc.

What you can also do is take note of how they’re doing across school. Is there anything that they’re particularly good at? If that’s English, why not spur them on to write something or their own, create a blog or to participate in a contest of some sort. By doing this you will also be able to show that you’re invested in their learning and give them the push they need.

Careers Advice

Talks with careers advisers can also be beneficial and eye opening for children. They have vast knowledge of different fields and will be able to make appropriate recommendations and help them in creating a plan for the future. 

Inspiring Role Models

The examples that your child sees around them can have a real hand in the attitudes that they adopt and the person that they become which is why it’s important that you and those around them lead by example. There are many inspiring stories that they can benefit from learning and introducing your child to these can help to sound out the bad and help them in thinking about their own aspirations.

Explore Your Own

Going back to before, you’re the most influential person in your child’s life which is why you must set a good example for them. Aside from being a good person, you should demonstrate your personal ambition and dedication to grow and develop. Invest in the things that you enjoy, that bring you happiness and will help further your career.

These are just some of the things that you can do to help your child to find their passions. Again, remember to not force anything on to your child. They will be much happier feeling heard and acknowledged. If you enjoyed reading this post and found it useful, check out the others here on my blog. We host a range of resources for parents, children, and teachers.