There's a good chance

There's a good chance that our girls will be excellent readers and writers. They will love books. They will savor words. They will understand the magic and beauty of linguistics.

There's a good chance 1 There's a good chance 2

There's also a good chance that they will appreciate the outdoors. They'll love to feel the sun beating down on their backs, to feel the breeze playing with their hair. They will hike and climb and run and bike - their muscles pumping, their lungs at work.

There's a good chance 3 There's a good chance 4

And they will be good with people. They will radiate warmth and compassion. They will be influential, visionary, courageous people who lead the way with their kindness and creativity.

There's a good chance 5 There's a good chance 6

In many regards, they are already all of these things. Pieces of me. Pieces of Tim.

But, lately, I've been thinking about how to help cultivate our areas of weakness. How can we teach a foreign language when we don't have mastery of Chinese, French, or Portugese? How can we encourage musical interest when we are deficient in that area? How can we help them be BETTER and MORE than we are?

I guess it starts through EXPOSURE - giving them opportunities to see others' strengths. And then, secondarily, by EXAMPLE.

So - I'm striving to find my non-interests, my non-talents...and then to incorporate them into my life. Even just a little.

Yesterday, I turned on the Classical Music station in the car. And we were jammin' to Bach, with the sun shining through the windows. After a little while, however, my 3-year-old asked to listen to an audio book instead (I told you we love books 'round here).

WHAT ABOUT YOU? How do you cultivate interests/intelligences for your kids that are different than your own?

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14 comments on “There's a good chance”

  1. We take them to things like out door drumming circles and the museum. (I am not an artist, just an art lover.)

    I encourage all kinds of studies. I have a teen learning spanish, one learning german and the other learning japanese.

    I believe it is all by encouragement, show them that the world is their oyster.

  2. What great pictures! I especially love the one with your little girl behind the flowers.

    I wish we lived closer! We would invite your girls over for a music playdate. My husband has a degree in classical guitar performance so our kids get plenty of music appreciation...no thanks to me! He makes it fun and both the kids love it.

  3. I agree that exposure is a great way to introduce your kids to new things. I purposely try and make friends with people that have completely different interests than me, so that I can learn something from them. And I was pretty excited to discover an elementary school just down the road that gives daily Mandarin Chinese language and culture lessons to the kids. I'm seriously thinking about enrolling my son there.

    Oh, and my Wordless Wednesday picture was taken at our local library. They have a fun pirate ship for the kids to play in!

  4. We want the same for our kids! Mackenzie really wants to learn to play the guitar and piano, both things I do not know how to play. I am thinking about taking guitar lessons with her.

    My husband and I are different in many ways, but our strengths and imaginations compliment each other perfectly! As an "extreme" family we fish,camp,hike,rock climb, sing at the top of our lungs, dance around the house,we are looking into backyard beekeeping,ride mules,practice t-ball, the list goes on and on. We always challenge our kids to "look outside of the box" and try new things (including food) We are looking into learning a different language too...either Spanish or Italian.

  5. There is such a long list, isn't there?! Sometimes I really worry I am not doing enough with sports...It would be fun to work on goals together as a family that are new and different. Then think up a plan to work towards them.

  6. We love audiobooks in the car too (and when I run)!

    We are big on teaching the kids spanish here, a little way I can pass my culture to them.

    What we don't do much of is enjoy the wild outdoors like hikes on mountains or trails, which I know my son would love, or visit the beach (which is close by).

    I would also love to do more gardening and planting of veggies and fruits with my son.

    Some goals I need to expose my family to. Thanks for the lovely post.

  7. My husband and I were just talking about this. We want our daughters to grow up bilingual so we were talking about how to do so. I think exposure is the most important way to do that, so we are trying to figure out the logistics in that.

  8. i agree completely- expose them to everything that you can. last year we took our girls to the rodeo and both absolutely loved it and want to one day give it a try. my husband and i also brought very different favorite past times and strengths to the family which will hopefully diversify them more.

  9. I buy lots of scientific-minded and technical toys for our son. He's somewhat gifted in this area (like his Dad), but I find myself joining in when he builds a gears factory or plays with Snap Circuits. I encourage his little sister to play with us, too, a girl who's much like me (more literary minded).

    So tough to stretch into new areas when you grow so comfortable with what's familiar!

  10. for us it helps that although my husband and i have things in common we both have very diverse interests and tastes.
    i love that about us.

  11. I think I do what you did....expose all of us to something new(not just the kids). I also bring in others that may have something new to bring to the kids lives.
    Really, that is a main component of homeschooling; looking for opportunities to expose new ideas and doing it.

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