Little Explorers

Right now, I'm reading this book called Homeschooling for Success, which I found out about on Homeschool.com. I just have to say that I really, really like it. I'm finding so many things in there that I agree with...and so many things that are very encouraging to me. Here is a sample of something I read today that I really like. It's in the chapter that talks about "Finding Your Child's Special Genius," which talks about the many different learning styles and how suggestions in teaching to those styles.

"Allow your child to 'sample' different interests

"While this might seem easier to apply to your homeschooling than learning styles or intelligences, there is a catch: You have to let your child quit. Yes, you have to let her quit piano after only two months if she decides piano is not for her. (She may come back to it later.) (Story about a girl who wanted to learn to dance at 3yro and quit soon after. She started again at 6 and danced for 12 years and decided to make dance her life's work.)

"Children have to sample many different things in life so that first 'spark' of interest in something can ignite. They are building up a library of what the world has to offer. If they are stuck in piano, they might never have a chance to discover they have a special talent in guitar, drums, or singing. As a parent, you have to have to be your child's 'interest advocate.' And this is going to be hard. You have to stand up to other adults and maybe even grandparents that think you are raising a quitter. Your children are not quitters, they're explorers. Give them this special time in life to explore what they find interesting. Often one pursuit lends itself to another but is not easily apparent to the parent. This was the case for Adam.

"(Story about Adam who loved science and math and was heading toward a career in that path. At 13, he picked up a guitar by chance and had a natural talent. His parents allowed him to immerse himself into it. Over the next 2 years, he made the correlation between math and music theory and "intensely began to experiment with charting music by hand and playing other instruments like the trombone and piano. He dove deep into music history and listened to every type of music he could get his hands on. He began to play his original guitar compositions in public and at age 15 was invited by an acclaimed international guitarist to participate in a 10 day guitar seminar in France").

Anyway, I thought that was really cool...let a child quit because they are not quitters, they are explorers!