Embrace The Challenge: 3 Steps To Empower Your Child To Dream
“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.”
— Oprah Winfrey
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
That’s a question most of us have heard at one point or another as we were growing up. A baker, a doctor, an author, a chef — your child too, dreams of becoming someone spectacular one day.
Yet, the road to one’s dream can, at times, be daunting and tough.
Our teachers share that younger students tend to feel discouraged when their dreams and goals are dismissed or made fun of. When failure, discouragement and fear deter your child from moving forward as he or she chases those dreams, it falls to us as parents and educators to be the voice of reason that pushes each young dreamer to embrace the challenges ahead.
In this article, we share our thoughts on the importance of children’s dreams and how to help your child to dream bigger.
What do Alan Fong, Singapore’s Youngest Busker, and Tiffany Teo, the first Singaporean Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter to fight in a title bout in One Championship, have in common? Passion.
Passion fuels purpose — when your child’s dreams are anchored to a clear vision and driven by his or her interests, he or she will be motivated to work harder to make those dreams come true.
Children have big dreams, but are sometimes too scared to pursue them.
As parents and educators, we play a pivotal role of inspiring your child to have the courage, confidence and certitude to dream. Help your child realise that:
“When my students share their hopes and dreams with me, it makes me realise just how much of a responsibility we have as educators to empower them and encourage them.”
— Justin Leow, Head of Teaching Network at The Learning Lab.
It is important that you do not only help your child to dream but also give your child the right space and tools to nurture his or her dreams.
We have outlined 3 key steps on how you can help your child pursue his or her dreams.
Foster an environment in which your child’s dreams are valued to give your child the confidence to pursue his or her goals and aspirations. Whether your child aspires to be a lawyer or a comedian, your child deserves a safe environment to share about his or her dreams openly and confidently.
Additionally, children feel empowered knowing they have people around them who believe that they can accomplish their dreams.
So, take the time to listen to your child’s hopes and dreams, affirm your child of his or her abilities, and tell your child that you believe in him or her. These are some of the things you can do to support your child’s dreams.
“I love hearing from the young ones about their ambitions. I am always inspired by them as they bravely share their dreams with me — their dreams are pure and innocent yet at the same time, big and fearless too.
And as their teacher, I recognise the importance of gearing my lessons towards moulding their minds and character to be even bigger than these dreams.”
— Lee Sue Lynn, Academic Director for TLL’s Early Years Programmes
Setbacks and disappointments may seem to temporarily impede your child’s journey towards his or her dreams, but resilience is about empowering your child to pick himself or herself up, not lose heart and try again.
When your child chases his or her dreams with resilience, he or she is able to learn and improve from mistakes as well as understand that challenges are part and parcel of the learning process.
In class, our teachers often share inspirational stories of figures like Joseph Schooling and Jack Ma who have worked hard to achieve their successes. These inspirational dreamers help teach your child that anything is possible, as long as he or she does not give up.
“I had a student who was in the Express stream — he had wanted to enter the IB programme but did not perform as well as he wanted at the PSLE. Fiercely determined to excel, he put in a lot of hard work. At the end of Year 2, his grades were so good that he managed to get a transfer into the IB stream in Secondary 3 and went on to get a perfect score of 45 points in Year 6 of his IB exams.
A year later, he sent me a picture of him in a medical doctor’s white coat — the picture was taken at a welcoming ceremony for new students in the medicine programme for NUS.”
— Mr Choo Hwee Meng, Math Subject Head at TLL Jem, Westgate and Choa Chu Kang
If you think of your child’s dream as an end goal, you may realise that the successes he or she achieves along the way are going to matter. These successes — whether it’s excelling in class tests, acquiring a new skill or graduating from one academic level to another, are important stepping stones in your child’s journey.
It is therefore important to ensure that your child is equipped with the right knowledge and skills to excel in school and beyond. Give your child the opportunity to learn about current affairs, global cities and culture — with a broader perspective of the world, your child will be able to shape his or her dreams with the real world in mind.
“I get very excited whenever my students share their hopes and dreams with me. In return, I’ll try to make lessons relevant to whatever they’ve shared. It motivates me when I know that I am helping to shape my students’ perspectives about life.”
— Ms Dorothy Koh, English Subject Head for the Lower Primary levels at TLL United Square
Regardless of the path your child is on, it is important to remind your child to never give up on his or her dreams.
Ready, set, dream.
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