Encouraging Your Child's Special Interests and Passion
If you are intent on encouraging your child’s special areas of interest or passion, you’ve probably realized that this can be an expensive undertaking. Some interests involve special equipment or resources to develop, and unfortunately the library doesn’t have it all. However, if you are treat those interests as a part of your child’s academic course load, and as an investment towards their college admissions and scholarships, the cost might start to seem more manageable.
My children’s areas of specialization tended to be in academic subject areas. For our family, “The Teaching Company” courses were really a huge deal. Almost every year, my children would get a “Teaching Company” course. “The Teaching Company” provides college level lectures on audio and video, so you’re giving information to your kids that is at the next level. If they’re interested in classical music or history, you don’t have to limit them to only what they might learn in high school. You can feed their passion with these college level lectures. You don’t have to test them or anything; just give it to them for fun so that they can listen to it.
My oldest son was very interested in the history of Russia, and “The Teaching Company” had a course for that. After listening to that class, he got a couple of books that were interesting from the library, and started reading “War and Peace” and other great literature of Russia. Finally, I realized that he probably had earned a high school credit. I calculated what he had done, and put that on his transcript, even though it was he who wanted to learn more about Russia.
Sometimes the equipment that kids need to pursue their specialization tends to be very expensive. If you can, think about it more as an investment than a big hole that your money is falling into. I recommend you check out the Home Science Tools website (www.hometrainingtools.com). They have a lot of specialty equipment, from microscopes to chemistry sets for an engineering kid who’s very hands-on. Lego Mindstorms is another good source for specialty equipment. My son actually took a two-credit college class called “An Intro to Engineering” where they used Lego Mindstorms.
The fine arts also sometimes require some specialty equipment. If your student needs a special musical instrument or some art supplies and charcoal set, instead of considering that a waste of time, think about it as an investment.
The key to saving money is to remember that this is not about your interests. This has nothing to do with your own personal interests, so now is not the time to buy your child a violin because you have always wanted them to play the violin. Specialization is about what your child wants and loves, not what you want them to love. If they have been playing their pathetic violin, and want to graduate to a real one, then that’s where you should put your money, because it’s an investment. It should come back to reward them in the form of scholarships and college admissions, so it’s worth the time and effort.
I hope the above mentioned points are more helpful for you to understand how to encourage your kids. To know more detailed information on homeschool curriculum christian, it is possible for you to gather through internet searching or referring some books or even you can visit http://www.thehomescholar.com/homeschool-convention-at-home.php
