Recognizing your Child's Talent at an early stage

The word “talent”, is often understood by most people to be limited to an artistic impression like drawing, painting or playing musical instruments etc. According to experts, talent is a natural ability in a person based on an area of strength. Also, in development of a talent, there is a large role ofchild’s personality as well as the type of opportunities available to him over a period of time.

The sooner a talent is recognized in a child, the more time would be there to encourage and nurture that talent which would help him throughout his life. It is here that the role of parents as a talent scout for their child becomes most important. Even though a talent might be identified by other people that a child interacts with, for example teachers in his school or playschool, it is the parents who are the closest to a child and have the benefit of giving their undivided attention and observation to a child, which might not be possible in a group environment, like a school.

As a parent it is your duty to expose your child to various interests and activities and thenkeenly observe your child’s interest, liking or an extraordinary performance in something, that is unusual of kids of his age. That might well be the hidden talent of your child.

Here are some tips on how to encourage various activities that might lead to discovery of the talent in your little one.

Whether it’s different sports, drama, music, art or science, find ways to expose your child to as many of them.

However, you need to ensure that the child should enjoy what you intend to do for him. Do not force him into anything.

a) Sports - Take him along to watch a cricket match, golf tourneys, football matches or tennis matches or any other sport activity. Then watch where his interest lies. If he asks for a cricket kit, get him a cricket kit and indulge in his interest yourself. If he liked tennis, get him a tennis racket. Join a sports complex in your area and go there regularly with your kid and see what your child likes to play. You can start with professional coaching once his interest is figured out.

** A great opportunity is knocking at the doorstep of all parents living in Delhi and NCR region in the form of 2010 Commonwealth games, to be held in Delhi from Oct 3rd to Oct 14th

2010, and it would be a great time to introduce your child to various sports**

b) Drama and Theater - Take your child along for plays, puppet shows etc.

c) Music - Take your child with you to various musical concerts and programs, whether it is classical music, ghazals, pop or rock. Observe your child at the concert and his feedback and behaviour after that, do you find him singing or trying to play a guitar or a tabla!

d) Art - Art exhibitions, workshops etc

e) Science - A visit to the National Science Museum or the Nehru planetarium can wake up the scientist in him, if he is interested.

This is just a small example of various things that you can do.

Once you have identified your child’s talent, you should not take a sit back and watch approach but rather do everything possible to encourage that talent.

Provide him with all the possible tools and support to enhance his talent, even providing him with professional coaching if needed. Talent gets developed over a period of time and it needs a lot of perseverance. A child might be talented in one thing but might not like doing it, in this case helpthem enjoy that topic and talent will develop gradually at the right time. Do not make it a subject of study for them, but something they should enjoy and do voluntarily.

You can also take the help of your child’s school and the teachers to identify or later on develop the talent in your child.

Tip - Do attend the Parent Teacher Meetings in your child’s school and don’t hesitate tocontact the teachers if needed before that.

Once the talent has been identified, make yourself fall in love with that subject and become aware of that yourself.

“If only had my parents taken note of my interest in a specific sport and provided me with guidance and training at the right time, I would have been a sportsperson now instead of watching that game just on TV.”, How many of us have thoughts like this every now and then ??

Well, I do for sure!!

However, in our times the environment was not so full of opportunities and our parents never read such articles, but now there is nothing stopping us from encouraging the talents of our children.

A child, is after all a child and does not understand the definition of talent or identify the importance or use of his talent in this competitive world. As parents, it’s our duty to not let a talent in a child fade away.

Not every child can be a born genius, but with regular sharpening and development of his talent, he can surely become a genius in his field when he grows up!!

150 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS1. What does your child like the most?2. Any special incident or memorable moment that you would like to shareabout your child?3. How do you define successful parenting?4. How do you expect the school to contribute in your child's life?5. How do you deal with discipline issues with your child?6. Describe your child.7. How much time do you spend with your child ?8. What are your Child‟s hobbies?9. Who takes care of your child in your absence?10.What are the qualifications of child‟s parents and grandparents?11.What does your childlike the most?12.What does your child dislike the most?13.How do you tackle your child‟s tantrums?14.How independent is your child?15.What do you want your child to become in the future?16.What are the expectations from school with respect to your child?17.How would you develop the qualities of sharing & caring in your child?18.Would you like to share something special about your child?19.What should you do when your child misbehaves in front of others?20.How do you make sure that your child eats a balanced and adequatehealthy diet?21.What is your opinion about creating a routine in a child‟s life?22.Can we provide some kind of justification on forcing our wishes onto thechild?61 How do you enhance the motor skills of your child23.How much time does father spend with child?24. To whom your child is more close and why?25. What has been your child‟s personal milestone till today in your opinion?26. How do you expect the school to contribute in your child‟s life?27. Being a parent is difficult or rewarding or frightening or wonderful. What isyour opinion?28. What are your views on school giving homework to your child?29. Define successful parenting?30. What are different hobbies of your child?31. What are your goals for your child?32. Can you force your wishes on the child?33. Is Freedom=Responsibility? Comment on it as a parent.34. Explain the role of books in child‟s life.35. What is your child‟s favorite color?36. What is your child‟s favorite game?37. What is your child‟s favorite food?38. What is your child‟s favorite pet animal or bird?39. What does your childlike the most?40. What makes your child happy?41. What makes your child sad?42. How important is discipline in child‟s life?43. What are your priorities to search in a school while seeking admission in aparticular school?44. How do you spend your quality time with your child?45. How do you and your partner spend the leisure time with the child?46. What is your child‟s favorite indoor and outdoor activity?47. Are there any responsibilities given to your child from your side?48. Name the story book given to your child from your end in the recent past.49. What are the three important things you are looking for in a school foradmitting your child?50. Why are you choosing our school for getting admission for your child?51. Do you have any kind of suggestions to improve the education at primarylevel?52. What are your aspirations for the future of your child?53. How do you perceive your role as a parent in the education of your child?54. How can you increase the motor skills in your child?55. Name some of the important things a school should have for pre-schoolchildren.56. Is your child fully trained with toilet and washroom manners?57. What are your views with respect to the joint family versus nuclear familywhile focusing on the child‟s overall development?

58. Did you send your child to the play school prior to the admission?59. What could be the best thing given to your child as a parent?60. What do you believe in-formal or informal or combination of both kinds ofeducation? Why?62What is the best way to teach a preschooler to be courteous and appreciative?63 you are taking a written test for nursery admission and you realize that the personnext to you is cheating, what would you do,64 How do you spend time with your child?65. What are your views on the recent Gurgaon incident where a school boy shot hisclass mate? What in your opinion was missing?66What is the happiest moment in your day?67. What do you do when your child trow tantrums?68. What are your aspirations for your child?69. What do you know about this school?70. List out according to priority the expectations / end results from your child: Happiness,achievement, academics, overall personality.71Why do you want to admit your child to this school?72. What do you want your child to become ?73. What are your expectations about the school ?74 Being a parent is difficult / rewarding / frightening / wonderful ? What is your opinion ?75 How will you develop the qualities of sharing and caring in the child ?76 Freedom = Responsibility. Comment ?77 Would you like to share something special about your child ?78 How do you make sure that your child eats a balanced adequate healthy diet ?79 What should we do when a child misbehaves in front of others ?80 What is your opinion about creating a routine in a child‟s life ?81 Explain the role of „Books‟ in a child‟s life ?82. How justified are we in forcing our wishes onto the child ?83. How well do I know my child…84 His favourite colour………….85 His favourite86 His favorite outfit…………..87 in school of NCR still children interviews are not banned88 Identify the color name89 recite a rhyme a90 shape recognisition91 Your son is playing in the block area. His friend knocks over block structure and in returnyour son hits his friend . What will you do and why?92 A parent comes to pick up their child and notices a bite received by your child.They become angry and demand to speak to you . How will you handle the situation?93 A classroom is run on values. The values maybe designated by policy or influenced by theteachers and parents. What do you when a parent's different values interfere with classroomprocedures?94. What you would do in a situation like if two children were fighting over a toy or if a childwas not listening to you...kind of what would you do scenarios...95.How do you spend time with your child?96. What are your expectations from school ?97 Your financial status ?98 What do you do when your child throw tantrums?99 What are your aspirations for your child?100 whether mother is working or not if working who looks after the child in her absence ?Latest QUESTIONS asked for 2010-2011 sessions :* Did you run away from your home to get married ?

* Did you have love marriage ?

(above questions we have highlighted because they are featured questions :)1) What age do you think is appropriate for a child to follow a"flexible" curriculum?2) What are your expectations from your child and what ishis/her biggest positive point?3) What is your philosophy of education?4) What does the word "DPS" mean to you? Why have youchosen DPS as the school where your child spends hisinitial years of education?5) What are your expectations from the school?6) What do you think are advantages and disadvantages of a

composite school?7) What is the role of a teacher in students' life?8) What do you do to establish good communication with yourchild?9) What age groups does your child interact with?10) What according to you contributes most for a happyfamily?11) According to you, which activities in a school enhancecreativity of a child?12) Mention a few reinforcement techniques you use withyour child?13) What disheartens your child most?14) What are the restrictions put on your child by you andwhy?15) How should children utilize their free time?16) What is more important for you and why…academicperformance or social adjustments of your child?17) How do you improve eating habits of your child?18) What is role of a teacher is student’s life?19) What is advantage and disadvantages of a compositeschool? What different techniques you are using for reinforcements ofyour child?20) What is more important for you and why…academic performance orsocial and ...adaptability of your child?21) What is more important for you and why…academic performance orsocial and ...adaptability of your child?22) What is your child's relationship with his sibling?23) Is your child toilet trained?24) What does your child eat in the breakfast?25) What do you want your child to become when he grows up?26) How would you see the child’s independence?27) What is your child's daily routine?28) Has your child been to any play school?29) What benefits/gains do you see by having sent your child to a play school?30) What languages are being used to communicate with the child at home?31) Studies or Extra Curricular activities - What is more important?32) CBSE or ICSE Board or IB- How they are different? Which isbetter and why?33) Which is your child's favorite cartoon on TV?34) Are the cartoon channels beneficial or harmful according to you?35) Does your child play with computer?36) How independent is your child?37) How do you inculcate the habits of sharing and caring in your child?38) Your views on the use of technology in school education?39) Are you aware of the Internet?40) Do you have a computer at home?41) Have you used any websites for kids for online interactive learning?42) What is Swine Flu and what precautions do you need to take against it?43) Do you remember when was your child last given a vaccination and which vaccinations were given ?44) How to you plan to cope with change in your daily lifestyle once yourchild starts going to school?45) What would you do if your child cries during the first few days of going to school?46) Being a parent is difficult / rewarding / frightening / wonderful ? What is your opinion ?47) Is your child introvert or an extrovert?48) How much time the grandparents spend with the child?49) What makes your child unique?50) How would like to treat your child?