Mencari dan Mengembangkan Minat Anak

Sewaktu masih kecil, Anda ingin belajar piano, tapi tidak pernah tercapai? Masalahnya mungkin Anda ingin piano, tapi orang tua tidak tahu bahwa Anda tertarik musik. Karena itu orang tua Anda dulu memberikan Anda kursus tari, bukannya kursus musik. Jadi Anda belajar tari karena keinginan orang tua, bukan keinginan sendiri. Akibatnya Anda dulu malas les dan orang tua sia-sia mengeluarkan biaya. Sekarang, setelah Anda sendiri menjadi orang tua, hindari hal yang sama. Biarkan anak anda belajar hal yang mereka minat, bukan yang Anda (orang tua) inginkan Berikut ini tips agar Anda dapat menemukan dan mengembangkan minat anak Anda Dengarkan : Apa yang suka diceritakan oleh Anak Anda? Pertanyaan tentang apa yang sering mereka tanyakan? Apakah mereka tahu sesuatu hal dengan lebih detail? Misalnya jika anak Anda banyak bercerita tentang pelajaran bernyanyi di sekolah, mungkin dia berminat masuk paduan suara Tanyakan : Jangan mendikte anak untuk melakukan sesuatu yang Anda suka. Tanyakan apa yang mereka suka, dan kenapa. Tanyakan, "Apakah kamu suka .....? Mau mencoba .....? Misalnya kalau anda menanyakan "Mau menonton teman-teman menari dirumah sebelah?" dan anak Anda menggeleng, mungkin itu tandanya dia tidak berminat pada tarian. Lihat : Apakah anak sering bermain sebagai suatu profesi (misal tukang masak, guru)? Apa yang suka mereka lihat di TV? Apa yang mereka gunakan dengan mainan mereka? Misalnya kalau Anak anda suka menggambar kereta api? Mungkin dia suka dengan mesin yang bergerak. Lakukan ketiga hal di atas berulang-ulang dan teratur, sampai Anda yakin dengan minatnya. Setelah itu barulah kembangkan minatnya sedini mungkin. Mengembangkan minat pun tidak harus dengan kursus yang mahal. Misalnya apabila anak Anda suka berenang, ajaklah dia rutin berenang bersama-sama, tanpa harus menyewa jasa pelatih renang. Apabila suatu kegiatan (renang) sudah dilakukan bersama-sama dengan rutin, dan dia tidak merasa bosan, barulah pertimbangkan untuk menggunakan jasa kursus. Dengan cara ini, semoga Anda tidak membuang banyak biaya kursus ini itu untuk bereksperimen dengan minat anak Anda. Sumber : cupidocreative Did you miss out on dance as a kid? Me too, but my parents never knew I was interested in it.  Same with choir, but I did get to play the violin for a few years.  Before I had kids, I told myself I'd let them choose their activities.  Do what they wanted to do, not what I wanted to do.  However, when my daughter was born I wondered how she would even know what she wanted to do! So how do you know what they want to do?

Discovering Interests

toddler with toy guitar

Like most toddlers, my daughter loves to climb on everything—including me.  She also likes to jump around and off of things. Rissa is a bundle of non-stop energy. When she was 18 months old, I started looking around for a tumbling class in the area. I found one, but dreaded the thought of paying for a class she might not like. Their website listed open gym hours, so I took her to one. It still cost a few dollars, but it wasn't a big deal if we never returned again. Well, she loved it. All 10 weeks of it! Last year I couldn't ask her if she wanted to go to gymnastics class. She didn't know what it was until she was enrolled in tumbling. This summer? She told me she wanted to go! There are a few other activities I'd like her to check out, but I'm trying to make sure they are what she wants to do—not what I want to do—which is why I use interest LAW (Listen, Ask, Watch) to guide our enrollments.

• Listen—What do your kids talk about a lot? What are they asking questions about? Do they know more about something than you thought they did? Do they make up songs or stories?
• Ask—Question what they like and why. Would they like to know/see/hear more about ___? Want to try ___? (When I ask my daughter if she wants to try a dance class she closes her eyes and starts twirling around. Thinking that's a yes?)
• Watch—Do they act out certain roles (ex: doctor, teacher, cook)? What shows do they like to watch? What are they making their toys do?

- See more at: http://momitforward.com/discovering-interests-of-a-child#sthash.vHgjLVPe.dpuf