Learning

I would like to know how best I can help my child in pursuing his passion. I can see most of his time just going on in doing school work. He is stressed and unhappy most of the time. He likes to play badminton and the guitar, but he hardly gets time to do

Answered by Team ParentCircle

Dear Parent,

Kudos to you for giving your child the space and freedom to pursue his passions, instead of only pressuring him to study. Not many parents are able to find that balance when it comes to their children (esp. when the child is in a board exam year!) Hobbies and passions are extremely important to pursue, no matter what stage of life since they aid in personal growth and help us develop new skills. You could help your son balance his academics and hobbies in the following ways:

1. Help him draw a home timetable (with time slots for meals and rest) with his most productive time accounted for. For example, if he is most productive in the evenings, he should schedule his schoolwork then. Accordingly, he could utilize 1 hour every week in the afternoon (maybe after coming back from school, when he needs to unwind) for playing his guitar.
2. It is important to schedule physical activity and exercise in this timetable but the timing is important. Would it be feasible to build in 1 hour of playing on a weekend and 1 hour on a weekday when the homework is comparatively less? If he plays badminton regularly, he will realize that he is able to concentrate on schoolwork much better, which in turn saves time.
3. Help him fight off procrastination. If studying for a test or revising a chapter needs to be done, help him understand how procrastinating would make it even more difficult to do later. If he revises a chapter when it’s still fresh in his memory, it will consume much less time, and practicing this will help him in the long run.
4. Build in a rest day. Everyone needs rest to rejuvenate themselves and to keep themselves motivated. Encourage your son to build in a rest day (it could be a weekday or a weekend) which will help build the strength to handle the pressure of the remaining week.
5. Check time-robbers. Checking our mobile phones for app notifications consumes more time than we realize. It is much smarter to even schedule social media/e-connecting with friends time in your home timetable, or to engage in these distractions in breaks so that this time is accounted for and doesn't end up being wasted. One way of doing this is to simply keep one's mobile switched off or in another room while studying. Another is to catch up with messages and notifications while commuting.
6. Focus on his body. A healthy diet and at least 7-8 hours of quality sleep are very important (and often this is overlooked by adolescents).
7. Keep the connection with your child going. Allow him to believe that he has scope to make mistakes. Praise him for his effort, rather than for the outcome--it will keep him motivated.

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