HOW TO NURTURE A CHILD’S STRENGTH TO
RELEASE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL
Each child is born with a unique gift, an a strength that they are great at. For parents, the key is to recognise and encourage this strength so that it enables the child to reach their true potential.
I recently worked with Jane and her son Alex, a 16 month year old boy who did not walk and preferred to manoeuvred himself by rolling around. Alex was a healthy boy and was great at talker! However, when his Mum asked him sit him up or encouraged him to crawl he became like a floppy doll.
Jane informed me that Alex loved all things technical and even at such a young age, was able to use the DVD player, use the remote and switch on the TV. In addition, he was so eloquent in his speech and had a really adult way of communicating. .This information was important to Jane as she recognised he would be good at IT, technology and a great communicator.
After 3 months of physio Alex finally sat and began to walk. On my advice, Jane also purchased some technology based toys (such as buttons to push and talking back toys) that would stimulate and encourage Alex to walk to them and play. This was a huge success and Alex's walking improved considerably.
The good news is that Jane continued to nurture these strengths throughout Alex’s childhood and even asked his teachers to present work to Alex electronically Jane also accepted that Alex was never going to enjoy sport as he obviously had a preference for .IT and technology. The good news is that Alex is now 26 years old and is a computer wiz. He also combines his excellent communication skills with his technology skills by teaching IT programs.
The key to nurturing a child’s strength is to carefully watch and listen to your child. Even from 12 months a child will start to show you their gift whether it is a tendency to sing, dance, use their imagination, play sport, explore or communicate really well. Your child maybe good at arguing – so perhaps their debating skills should be encouraged!
Be sure to allow your child time to explore their talent whether it be at home or in outside groups and classes. For example, if you child loves to dance, consider enrolling them in a dance class or take them to the ballet. Also dance with your child at home and let them . express themselves in a way that is empowering.
A key point however is to allow your child to show you their gift, rather than as a parent, projecting the gift that you would like them to have!
Even the most strong willed child has a gift and this trait is often found in adults who want to make a difference in the world such as Oprah and Richard Branson. .
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How to Nuture a Child's Strength to realise their full potential by Jean Sheehan[/caption]
Jean Sheehan is the award winning founder of http://www.absoluteempowerment.com/ Jean runs a wide range of courses for parents, adults and children, sharing her techniques which assist in them becoming more empowered and enhancing self esteem and self worth.