Nurturing your child’s career dreams

Children begin to aspire or choose their future careers from as young as age four or five. It is not uncommon to hear a five year old say ‘I want to be a doctor’ ‘I want to be a writer when I grow up or ‘I want to study architecture when I get to university.’Children […]

Children begin to aspire or choose their future careers from as young as age four or five. It is not uncommon to hear a five year old say ‘I want to be a doctor’ ‘I want to be a writer when I grow up or ‘I want to study architecture when I get to university.’
Children of all ages need their parents and other adults to nurture, motivate, guide or challenge them into realizing their dreams. While some parents see children’s career dreams  as  mere childhood imaginations and do nothing about them, others resort to outright condemnation and shouting on the children especially if they mention professions or careers they do not like or find attractive.
It is however important to help children nurture their career dreams from an early age.  It does not only boost their confidence but provides robust support towards achieving their dreams in the future. It also helps them contribute their quota and talents meaningfully to the country’s development.
More so, the inability of parents to support their children’s career according to some experts is one of the factors contributing to the high unemployment rate in the country.
There are children who from childhood nursed dreams to be lawyers but their parents insisted they become engineers or go into profession, they (the parents) prefer. Their children study such courses which they may not be good in and end up not securing employment or do not practice what they studied because they don’t have the passion to do them thus leading to a waste of their inherent abilities. Some of them however after satisfying their parents still go in pursuit or practice what they wanted from the beginning.
That is why it is common to hear some youth today say “ I just read medicine to satisfy my parents, I have always wanted to be a musician.”
A grandmother who does not want her name in print narrated recently how her five year old grandchild came to her and said she wanted to be a teacher.   She said she retorted ‘don’t say that, you cannot be a teacher ,  you will be a lawyer or a doctor’  But the primary 1 pupil replied ‘no grand ma, I love teaching. I want to be a teacher, if there is no teacher who will teach those who will become doctors and other professions?”
 The grand mother said she was shocked and on realizing her mistake petted the young child and assured her she will help groom her to be a great teacher. She narrated the incident saying it was a lesson to other parents that children really have their dreams, and if at a young age with their developing minds they could choose the careers they wanted, it signals the depth of their love, passion and talents to do well with such jobs or careers.
Suffice to say it most children are not as assertive as the child mentioned above, they either wholeheartedly let go of their dream careers or grudgingly accept it to please their parents while they remain unhappy.  
Mrs Elizbeth Atokolo, a mother said helping to nurture children’s dreams does not mean such dreams cannot change along the line later when the children begin to discover their academic abilities, challenges or  why their dreams can’t happen. “ You know with their young minds children do not see challenges or limitations , so it is up to the parents to first support, and guide them as they grow rather than out rightly dismissing them or insisting on careers for them,” she advised
The following are ways given by various experts on helping children nurture their dreams.
Believe the dream and encourage your child
Believe and support your child when he or she makes a choice. Tell your child why it is possible, not why it isn’t. Believe that they can achieve the dream and remind them of your belief in them as often as you can.
Start early by asking about their ideas and opinions regularly. Let them know  that you are really interested in what they think and feel, and they will become comfortable about expressing their thoughts to you.
Passion for life, learning, and work comes from within. Help your children discover their passions. Cultivate their sense of hope. Believe in their dreams, and they will believe in them.
Let their dreams create purpose and purpose fashion their goals. Challenge your children to reach for those goals and help them navigate the barriers.
Also encourage your children to be involved in activities that develop skills or knowledge for such careers.
Discuss about the career with them. If they are very young show them pictures and films about such careers and what it might feel like when the dream actually comes true.
Have an action plan
Also brainstorm a plan together including what they have to learn, who they have to form a relationship with and what steps must they follow and when.
 The next step  is to help your child live out the action plan .Do the learning, take the lessons, seek the people out, draw the pictures, write the words, watch the movies of those who have done it already, and get the experience.
Start planning schools ,places, people and things that could help your child achieve the dream. For instance if he or she wants to be a writer, you can start by buying books and writing materials for the child to boost his talents and writing skills.
Recognize that your children career paths will be unique
We often expect our journey in life to follow a perfect and predictable path. However, career development is a process, and everyone does it differently. Children learn and develop at different rates. Talk about the positive aspects of these differences. Help your children express and cherish their uniqueness.
Your positive, proactive involvement is an important factor in your children’s successes in school and work. Keep in mind that the career decision is each child’s, not yours, to make.
If you are listening, observing, and being involved, you will understand their paths and will want to be a part of making their dreams reality.
Even if, throughout this process, the dream changes, your child will have learned so many important skills. Particularly that we are continually evolving and our dreams will evolve with us based on what we learn and how our interests change.