Diane Bohmer at
Family Education Network
Ask yourself these questions and the
answers may help you discover some of your child's gifts,
talents, and interests.
Does your child:
Enjoy listening to other
people talking?
Get annoyed with people who
use improper English? (for example, He don't know the answer.)
Like to learn new words?
Give good directions to
others so that they understand the first time?
Like to tell stories?
Enjoy reading books?
Have a good memory for
names, dates, and trivia?
If this sounds familiar, then your child might someday write a
bestseller or become fluent in four languages.
& 
Does your child:
Like to work with computers
and calculators?
Enjoy math class?
Easily add numbers in her
head?
Enjoy doing science
experiments?
Ask a lot of questions
about how things work?
Enjoy chess, checkers, or
other strategy games?
Enjoy logic puzzles or
brainteasers?
If so, then your child could one day design sky-scrapers or
program computers.
Does your child:
Prefer to draw pictures
rather than tell stories?
Find her way around a new
place easily?
Like to take things apart
and then try to figure out how to put them back together?
Read maps, charts, or
diagrams more easily than text?
Daydream more than peers?
Build interesting
three-dimensional constructions (like LEGO buildings)?
Doodle a lot on notebooks?
If this is your child, then she could grow up to paint a
masterpiece or fix car engines.
Does your child:
Find activities like riding
a bicycle, skating, or walking on a balance beam easy?
Use a lot of hand gestures
and body movement when talking to friends?
Run, swim, and exercise
without getting tired?
Learn to play new sports
easily and quickly?
Like to touch something she
has just seen?
Report different physical
sensations while thinking or working?
Cleverly mimic other
people's gestures or mannerisms?
Move, tap, or fidget while
seated for a long time in one spot?
If yes, then your child could develop into an expert skier or
someone who amuses her friends with hilarious impersonations.
Does your child:
Enjoy playing a musical
instrument?
Listen to music a lot?
Hum or sing a lot?
Cheer herself up with songs when she is sad?
Tell you when music sounds
off-key?
Have a good singing voice?
Remember the melodies of
songs?
If this is your child, then she may one day conduct a symphony or
play in a steel drum band.
Does your child:
Like to work and play with
other kids?
Understand how friends are
feeling by looking at their faces?
Have two or more close
friends?
Give advice to friends who
have problems?
Have a good sense of
empathy or concern for others?
Seem to be street-smart?
Seem to be a natural leader
on teams?
If you answered yes to most of these, your child might become
someone's favorite teacher or the CEO of a big company.
Does your child:
Often need a quiet place to
work or just be alone?
Like to make collections of
things that have special meaning to her?
Remember her dreams?
Display a sense of
independence or strong will?
Have a realistic sense of
her strengths and weaknesses?
Have an interest or hobby
that she doesn't talk much about?
Accurately express how she
is feeling?
Sound familiar? Then your child could someday write great poetry
or resist negative peer pressure and do the right thing for herself.
Does your child:
Enjoy collecting bugs,
flowers, or rocks?
Like to closely examine
what she finds in nature?
Keep detailed records of
her observations of nature?
Like to watch natural
phenomena like the moon and the tides and hear explanations about them?
Become fascinated with one
particular thing from nature and want to learn about it thoroughly?
Want to become a geologist,
biologist, or some other type of scientist?
If your answer is yes, then your child could become an expert on
paleontology or discover new ways to save the whales.
