When I was growing up, I didn’t think I had any talents. I was an unremarkable child. I was rather ordinary. I used to dream about being someone special without realising that I already was special. (All children are.) I just didn’t know it.
As an adult, I have discovered I do indeed have many talents. So why didn’t I find this out as a child? I don’t think I experienced the right conditions for my talents to become obvious.
The other day, I watched a Ken Robinson video on Youtube. It’s called Life is Your Talents Discovered. Ken Robinson said: “Talent is often buried. You have to go looking for it, and create the conditions for it.”
I used those words as a starting point for this week’s podcast. In episode 73, I explored how we can help our children discover their special talents. I invited my 21-year-old daughter, Imogen to join me so she could share her own experiences and thoughts on this topic.
In particular, we discussed the following questions:
- Do children’s talents need the right environment in order to be discovered?
- How can parents create that environment?
- How can we support a child’s talents?
- Should we be worried if a teenager doesn’t know what she wants to do as a future career?
- Do we put too many pressures on teenagers?
- How can we help children who seem to have no interests?
- What if children don’t want to do anything but watch TV?
- What if they don’t want to do anything but play?
- Is play valuable? How has it helped Imogen as a musician and writer?
- Do parents feel pressured to offer their kids impressive learning experiences? Do they feel pressured to show others that their kids are doing impressive things? Are we all too competitive?
- How did we cope with multi-aged kids, including babies and toddlers, while homeschooling?
Show Notes
Life is Your Talents Discovered: Sir Ken Robinson
Images: If you’ve watched Imogen’s latest music video, The Sound of Silence, you’ll know I took these photos during the video shoot!
Also, feel welcome to stop by to comment or just say hello. I’d love to hear from you!
Thank you for listening to this week’s podcast!
Brilliant, brilliant. I'm the same age as Imogen and it sounds like we have similar moms, too! 🙂 If you (or her) are interested, I wrote an article yesterday reflecting on my time as a homeschooled child, and the independence that meant for me. I've written it here: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/defense-haphazard-homeschooler
Sarah-Anne,
I'm so glad you could relate to our podcast conversation!
Thank you so much for the link to your post. I enjoyed it very much. I especially love the final paragraph:
"The recipe for learning was simple to me–curiosity, a dad with a big library, and a rebel mom who had dropped out of the comparison game completely."
I am similar to your mother? Oh, I do like the thought of being a rebel mum!
Thank you for stopping by and commenting. I'm so pleased you did!