“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing its stupid.” – Albert Einstein
Find Your Child’s Inner Genius
Well said Albert.
We all have inner geniuses that if not found, will be sure to go unnoticed. As parents lets make it our job to find our children’s geniuses (yes, they can have more than one!) and be sure to spread the word to our kids. I mean how would Superman feel if he had all of these superpowers but didn’t know about any of them. Sad right, and what a waste of potential. It is so important that we teach kids about their superpowers. Telling your child how wonderful they are and that they have superpowers is not going to harm them or mean they are unlikeable by peers. It will teach them to be proud of who they are. It will teach them that they have an ability and to use it. To use it for good, not evil that is. Doesn’t it make sense that kids that know about their strengths will find it easier to get ahead in life compared to kids who believe they “can’t do anything”. Now, we all have weaknesses and it is equally important that we are aware of our kryptonite, but do we really need to put so much attention on bolstering weaknesses to the point that our education system can actually squash a child’s self-esteem? Most of us are aware of our weaknesses, and if we can be taught about our limitations and how to work with them then whats so bad about that.
A few months back, I attended the a talk about using character strengths in pre-school kids at the PESA conference held at Geelong Grammar School. Lisa Baker from Ballarat Grammar was discussing her work teaching preschoolers the language of strengths. Her work was admirable to say the least. Here she was day in day out, teaching 3.5yo to utilise their persistence, to use their patience to wait, their teamwork to help, to use their kindness and consideration of others and to use their curiosity to explore solutions. The kids responded so well. They were learning the language of strengths and living up to what they were taught. I took a leaf out of my own book and started talking to my 3.5yo using this language and the outcomes are fantastic. We spend loads of time talking about his strengths in waiting patiently and his strengths in teamwork (aka sharing!). In no way am I suggesting I have a perfect toddler, but we learning an incredible life skill together.
Child Psychologist, Andrew Fuller, has put together a fantastic read on this very topic – Unlocking Your Child’s Genius – I can highly recommend for all parents!
