Do you encourage your young child?

My dad coached pee wee football. His team lost every game for 2 years in a row. The kids just didn't have football talent. But they had the chance to learn the rules of the game, play as a team, and they got some physical conditioning. A couple of the kids did develop skills and went on to play college football. Others went on to enjoy the game as spectators. Would you have suggested to their parents that they NOT play ball?

It's fine to encourage kids to do things they enjoy, whether they excel at it or not. Our culture has become way too competitive and results-oriented. We have completely lost sight of enjoying the process, and recognizing the secondary benefits of the activity.

I'm not saying you should pretend the child is a prodigy, but if they are having fun, let 'em have fun.

Just because someone enjoys singing and arts,

doesn't mean that they can make a living at it,

I do not think there is anything wrong with encouraging your child, in the arts,

I tell my son that I love his drawings, and he is an artist,

he likes to sing,so i attend his concerts,

He like basketball and he is pretty horrible at at, but i encourage him to do his best, and clap and yell for him,

I make sure he goes to school and does his home work,

and ask him what he wants to be when he grows up,

it changes alot

His father is a chef, and he wants to cook so I let him and try and teach him what i know,

I don't believe that there is anything wrong with this,

My son is 11,

BUT I think that many people have unrealistic expectations,

Anything can be acheived if you just believe,

and work hard enough

Sure this is a true statement, but

At what point to you say HUMMMM, perhaps a diffrent venue should be taken,

11 is junior high school age,

When your kid comes home and says, this girl said I am ugly, what do you tell your child,

I THINK YOUR BEAUTIFUL

WHEN your child doesn't do well on a test, do you say, THATS alright or do you say honey you could have done better, next time study harder and you'll have a A

Why pretend like grades don't matter, and why not push your children for success,

If you say OK your just better at the arts than academia,

what are you saying about your child,

Personally, I think that its up to the parent to love and care for their child, and teach him values, and virtues,

BUt you also must, be realistic, children can tell when they aren't doing well in a subject, or AREA,

Sometimes they don't have the skills, sometimes that skill needs to be developed, and sometimes they simply don't have the capacity,

Real life doesn't care about hurting your feelings,

real life is work, and HARD, and plenty of it,

I hate cleaning, but it has to be done,

OVER protecting kids, is worse sometimes than not protecting them at all,

M

i don't have children. but i do have a real sense of dis-illusionment after being taught to Follow My Dream and Be Somebody.

there is a real difference between singing badly for fun (and knowing that it is only a private game and can even disturb others) and being mistakenly taught that somethign is an Art to be excelled in.

I never dance in public. but i love dancing behind closed doors. it is great excercise and better for me than watchiing t.v.. BUT i never got to think of myself as a dancer. thank god! i never even go out dancing. but it gets me moving instead of sitting down when there is some good music on T.V. and i'm not fat. But i got serous issues with what i thought was my Art and my Dream since 9 years old.

still, if a child sings badly, BUT is able to follow adult instruction and has a good attention span, some singing lessons for the kid so that the kid can sing better "for your friends and family and for fun" and for future Karoake outings (social!!! makes friends!) is not a bad thing. "learn to sing better" is a realistic goal of anyone who is able to learn anything in the first place (that is, listen, follow, and work for more than 5 min at a time). It does not mean "make a singing career". Karaoke is a perfectly good hobby for those who enjoy it! (not me).

a study shows that kids who get music lessons, espeicially singing, earn more money. they kids say that it teaches them to work and have fun at the same time. as long as it's "for fun" AND it is social, not anit-social like some hobbies, and not for A Dream it's way better than sittign home watching T.V.

Lol i think it really depends. I mean if you are criticizing your 5yr old for singing badly then thats wrong. If its your teenager that wants a career in vocals maybe gently tell them that you think they have other talents that are stronger such as.....................and that if they enjoy singing have fun and do it but dont let that be there only focus.

It doesnt help kids at all to give them false encouragement. Look at all the Sh it pop, rap, country artists out there who put out crap music all because mom and dad had money and encouraged them into something they sucked at.

Embarresment shame and failure are parts of life that kids will learn so protcting them from that is sort of determental to their devolopement.

But if you are going to break their hearts by telling they arent the best then make sure to tell them and highlight what they are great at.

Whether they excel at something or not, it's important to encourage the "try" part. If my daughter wants to sing, I'm not going to discourage her just because she's never going to make a record. There is a big difference between encouraging them to succeed and giving them a false sense of self.

I teach my child that things being done well isn't as important and trying your best and having fun. I can't carry a tune, yet I sing all day long. I have no rythym, yet I shake my booty from morning till night. I think that to teach a child self worth, you have to show them that you think they are worthwhile regardless of what they do and how well they do it.

To be proud of your child and stand behind them in everything that they try is differant than telling them they are the best and encouraging them to do that one thing all the time that they are not that gifted in.

If my child loves to sing and they are not that good at it, let them have the joy of singing. You don't have to sign them up for talent shows or take them to singing competitions, but let them have the joy of singing.

Also my question about the embarresment would be this... please don't take this wrong.... who is truly feeling embarrassed, you or your child?

Are you feeling embarrassed more than your child? If it's not you then let them sing, don't ask them to sing for others and more than likely, unless being told how fantastic they are, they aren't going to want to show off for everybody they come in contact with.

But as a parent I believe that it is your role to love, support, and stand behind what your child enjoys.

i encourage my children in everything they do. recently i signed 2 of them up for soccer, one is obviously very talented at it the other would prefer to pick flowers on the field instead of kicking the ball. yet i encouraged them both to try their best and have fun. they both had a great time regardless of their athletic abilities. i think it is very important to instill in them the sense of self worth, obviously they aren't going to be good at everything, but the important thing is that they get out there and try their best, have fun and discover who they are. you should be their to support them through it all, even if they stink at it.

What would make you more embarrassed as a child, your parents telling you that you stink at something or some wise cracks other little kids might make? (the other kids probably aren't pros at everything either.)

Its more degrading when a parent says your not good at something than if anyone else said it.

i wouldn't give false accolades, but i'd let them do what they wanted to do. i certainly wouldn't say "wow, you're a great singer." nor would i say "gosh, i don't think you should be in choir because you're tone-deaf." kids get a sense pretty quickly of how good they are at something (as long as no one is lying to them to build up their "self-esteem" ... honestly, even then kids quickly learn to trust peers over parents about things like that). but i love to do all kinds of things i'm bad at. i'd never take that away from my kids!