All heroes have different strengths and talents. While Sidney Crosby has athletic talents, JK Rowling has literacy strengths, Justin Trudeau has social talents, and Albert Einstein was known for his math and logic strengths. Just like these heroes, every child’s strengths and talents can blossom once they are identified.
There are many different types of strengths, but they can generally be divided into six main categories: personal, social, language, literacy, math/logic, and others. Some strengths come naturally, while others take effort and practice to improve. Let’s explore how you can work to identify the strengths of a child, and how you can help enhance these strengths at home.
Personal strengths are positive personality traits like kindness, curiosity, creativity, resiliency, thoughtfulness, and empathy. Personal strengths usually come naturally.
Enhancing strengths: personal strengths mostly come from inward, but you can enhance these strengths by acting as a positive role model. If you want to encourage passion, effort, problem-solving, and a good conscience in your child, lead by example.
Social and Behavioral Strengths
Social and behavioural strengths are all about how your child interacts with others. Examples of social strengths include being a good listener, a good friend, being truthful, following rules, resisting peer pressure, respecting personal space, and comforting others.
Enhancing strengths: social strengths can be enhanced by emphasizing the importance of honest and open communication. Take these strong social skills and use them to help others, like by embracing a new student at school or helping a younger student with reading practice.
Children with language strengths are great communicators, both talking and listening. They are often captivating speakers, attentive listeners, humourous, and expressive. They have a strong vocabulary and can communicate their thoughts with clarity and structure.
Enhancing strengths: Encourage your child to sign up for a role in a school play, joining a choir, or even writing a play or song on their own.
Literacy strengths apply to reading and writing skills. Children with literacy strengths often have vivid imaginations, strong memories, advanced vocabularies, and love to read and/or write.
Enhancing strengths: Literacy strengths can be enhanced with practice. Give your child a writing prompt and watch their imagination go to work. Encourage your child’s love of reading by taking them to the library or getting them a subscription to their favourite magazine or comic book.
Math and Logic Strengths
Students with strong math and logic skills can solve puzzles and word problems, can count, sort, and organize, can do math in their heads, and enjoy disassembling and reassembling objects.
Enhancing strengths: Play strategy-based games with your child, like chess, Kenken, or Sudoku. Try estimating games, like guessing how many jelly beans are in a jar or how many bristles are on a toothbrush. Get your child to help you with household tasks that require math, like cooking or measuring furniture.
Other strengths include everything from playing a musical instrument to playing hockey, from being good with young kids to excelling at volunteer work.
Enhancing strengths: Encourage your child to pursue their passions, whatever they may be!
Small Ottawa private schools or daycare programs like ours at St-Laurent Academy prioritize individual attention and individualized learning. This approach creates security for a student that allows talents or strengths to be uncovered and come to the forefront. Understanding strengths unlocked a child’s maximum potential.,
Get started with St-Laurent Academy today.