I think that one of the main lessons my kids have learned from being involved in sports, music, dance, and other classes/activities isn’t about competition or talent. I think one of the main lessons that come from such activities is about practicing—kids can learn that just about anything we do or attempt, we can improve ourselves with practice. We may not ever be a genius or a virtuoso, but we can get better and become reasonably proficient at all sorts of things. It just takes practice.
I know that “practice” doesn’t sound very glamorous. In fact, I have one daughter who hates to practice at anything. She’s always picked things up relatively easily so she hasn’t been very keen on plugging away and practicing at sports, musical instruments, whatever. As she’s gotten older, she is realizing, however, that people who may have been less “talented” than she at some things, have continued to get better and better because of hard work and practice, whereas she hasn’t improved at the same rate. This is one of the lessons that can be learned from NOT practicing!
Through the experiencing of watching and feeling themselves get better at things with work and practice, I think that children learn an incredibly valuable life lesson. Sometimes, it isn’t about razzle and dazzle, but just about showing up and continuing to try and work at things that matter to us. Inevitably, even with things we are really struggling with, practice will make things better. Chance are, the more we practice, the better we get and the earlier that kids learn that life lesson—the more successful they may be in all sorts of endeavors. Of course, for some kids (like one of mine) it may take a while for the lesson of practicing to sink in—but activities like sports, dance, music, drama, and others all help to teach that valuable lesson.
Also: Are They Doing it For Themselves–or for Mom and Dad?
Learning to Laugh at Ourselves