How do I discover the bents, gifts, and talents in each of my children?  This is such a hard question and I don’t believe I know the answer.  Here are some of my thoughts as I journey myself, looking for these things in each of my children.

 

·        Give myself time to observe my children without external pressures such as a curriculum, a tight routine or expectations.

·        Take notes on what I do observe – even if it is just an “interesting thought”.

·        Pray

·        Take note on what does and doesn’t work when we are working on lessons

·        Look at our whole life – 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through all seasons of the year – for clues.

·        Learn all I can about learning styles

·        See all activities as significant and take notes as to the children’s involvement and reactions. 

·        Talk to the children themselves about what interests them.

·        Be flexible – an interest may be here today and gone tomorrow, passions don’t necessarily last forever!  Seize the moment though when an interest does become apparent.

 

It constantly amazes me that our four children are so different from each other.  They are different in the way they think, in the way they communicate, the way they joke, the way they discover, the way they relax.  They are different, yet they all come from the same gene pool! 

 

It excites me, though, that our God, who created them all, has a plan for each one.  Not one of their complexities makes it difficult for God to have a plan for them.  He has a purpose for their lives, and they are good plans!  How exciting!

 

I can be a little overawed by the need to discover the bents and inclinations or I can rest in God.  If I push and dig and squeeze here and there to find what makes my kids tick I miss the peace that God has for me as a parent.  Not only does He have a plan for my kids – He has a plan for me, the Mum!  One of those plans He has for me is peace – a peace that man cannot understand.