Nurture their talents

It is often said that everyone has a talent, and this includes even the smallest ones among us: our children.

However, because they are so young, it can be difficult to encourage their talents as you may not yet know what they are.

Sometimes you can get an inkling as to what your child’s talents might become, however.

While they are probably still too young to recognise interests and talents for themselves, if they instinctively show interest in a particular activity it may be a sign that it has to do with one of their natural talents.

For example, if your young child takes a lot of interest in their pencils and paper, they could be showing an instinctive talent for drawing — even though at the moment all they do are colourful scribbles.

Be patient at this stage, and encourage them to pursue this interest as well as stimulating growth — but don’t push too hard: at this age too lofty expectations can discourage your little one.

As your child gets a bit older, encourage their discovery of their talents by exposing them to all different sorts of activities.

You may find a past-time that your child particularly enjoys and develops an ability for, or it could be a natural-born talent.

Once you and/or your child have discovered their talents, it is very important to patiently nurture those abilities.

Remember that while there are some kids that are honest-to-goodness prodigies, the majority are just your average child and that’s completely fine.

Encourage your child positively when they struggle, because struggling is often where the most learning occurs as your child is trying hard to make connections and give their brain a work-out.

Another tip is to pay attention to what your child stares at over what they actually verbalise.

Often children are not at a level were they can adequately express their true attitude towards a new activity or lesson, but when they stare at something it can often be an indication of what they are interested in enough to keep at and develop talent.

Finally, change your perspective with what you celebrate — instead of celebrating victories, celebrate the mundane, such as repetition.