We all know that every child is born with a unique talent and skill.

I certainly do, I have 3 of them and they all have totally different interests.

Our kids may be too young to understand their life calling or show interest in a particular area, but it’s up to us as parents to try to identify that and look for ways to help them develop their natural gifts.

The best place to find out about your kid’s natural tendencies and talents is at home, where you’ll find them indulging in behaviors that reveal their interests.

For example, if your child is a born engineer, he or she will be so drawn to electrical appliances - sometimes dismantling and fixing them back (or not).

It’s dangerous, I know.

But that’s where the child’s heart is.

The onus is now on us as a parent to help them develop that interest.

And really, the earlier a kid finds and follows their passion, the easier it is for them to live with purpose and move with confidence in their lives knowing that they have something in them to offer the world.

So, how do you help your kids find their passion?

One of the most interesting and affordable ways to help your kids (especially teenagers) to find their life calling is by introducing and encouraging them to watch online content related to their interests.

It could be informational YouTube channels to start, or even better, online courses adapted to their age.

The traditional school system doesn’t accommodate the needs or interests of each individual kid.

They wouldn’t be teaching your child photography, videography, website coding, dancing, or filmmaking, in a regular class.

The most the school can do is to include them as extracurricular activities, which if that’s the case that’s awesome, but not all schools have them.

But thinking long term, would you want your child to see his life calling as something they do on the side just for fun? Or something that they can do full time and make a living from?

Nowadays, it’s possible for adults to learn many different types of skills online and even become a certified professional at it.

Course creators create lessons in different niches, and these lessons are often either super-affordable, or just flat-out free.

These platforms can also give completion certificates to students at the end of each course.

If it works well for adults, why not try it out with your teenager?

If they show an interest in painting, just get them an online art class on Skillshare and see if they are still interested in it.

Do they show an interest in programming or web design? Then get them a 20-hour course on Udemy for $10 and encourage them to take the course.

Or even better, if your kids are gifted in maths or science, why not give them access to a course on brilliant.org, and let their imagination run wild.

You can even let them take a full course with assignments included on Coursera, which provides courses from some of the top universities in the world, like Duke or Stanford.

Try this for 3 or more interests that they show, and you are very likely to find something that really interests them.

Is Online Learning Suitable For Kids?

Online learning is great for your kids to learn at their own pace, when compared with the traditional school system.

This is especially true for teenagers, or at least for kids over 10 ideally.

There are kids with so much natural curiosity that school just does not satisfy them.

Many times the school system will try to push such kids through the system, and put them in classes with older kids. But that might be hard for the child because they naturally prefer to be with other kids of their own age.

An alternative that can act as a complement to school is to let the child satisfy their own curiosity with a few well chosen online courses. Your child can take the courses at their own pace, and watch them as many times as they need, ask questions and interact with other students.

A lot of online course platforms have features that enable tutors to give personalized feedback to students.

For example, your kid can take a quiz or assignment after completing a module. The course creator goes through the work, grades it and lets the student know which area needs improvement and the area they are doing great.

In the end, after the course, completion certificates are issued, which is super motivating for both adults and kids.

Are You an Online Course Creator Looking to Teach Kids?

I hope you are starting to see that online courses represent a huge opportunity for a lot of kids that might otherwise not have access to that type of education.

So if you are thinking of creating an online course for kids (or adults), you might want to check this other in-depth guide that I wrote. This guide details the whole course creation process from A to Z - How To Create an Online Course? (Complete Guide, includes Free PDF ) .

And if you are looking for a platform to publish your courses on, check here in this list to see what could be the best online course platform for you - Best Online Course Platforms (Complete Guide) .

Conclusion

As you can see, suggesting an online course to your kid might be one of the things that trigger their interest to an area that might well become their life calling. More so, these courses are very affordable - sometimes even free, and from the best universities in the world.

This is not to say you should disregard traditional classroom learning as it’s essential to your kid’s education. But an online course can be a great help in allowing your kid to find their calling.

Let your kids try out different things that they are interested in, and let them find out by themselves what they enjoy the most, by actually trying it.

I hope you found this post helpful, and that it inspired you to go and look for new and less explored ways to help your child develop their natural interests.

I want to thank Ikedah Alston for the opportunity to share this here in her blog.

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions!

Vasco Cavalheiro

OnlineCourseHost.com Founder & Online Course Creator

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KIMA Parent & Family Coach

Rooted in Growth

KIMA Parent & Family Coach

Rooted in Growth

Certified Youth and Family Coach

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