Finding Career Interests In 8 Yr Old Child To Boost Study Effort.?

February 25, 2010 – 10:54 pm

I know some may think elemantary age is too young, but my problem is that my 8 yr old who has already been held back once seems to have lost all interest in doing his school work. He shows no initiative to do his homework, unless I am sitting right beside him guiding him step by step. What I would like to do is find out what he wants to be when he grows up and try to help him focus his studies around that interest. At this point I don’t think I get him fired up and excited about school, but I’m hoping with a career goal in mind, I can at least make a connection for him between doing his school work and eventually graduating and reaching that goal. Since kindergarten he has mentioned police officer,singer,basketball player,and a couple other things. When do I know which of these he’s serious about?

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  1. 7 Responses to “Finding Career Interests In 8 Yr Old Child To Boost Study Effort.?”

  2. Take him on field trips. Most 8 year olds may want to be this or that but they really don’t know what that occupation is all about. On the weekends set up a time(if you can) to go to the police station and have him take to a police officer or a firefighter. Don’t just limit it to that try to expand his knowledge about other careers he may not know of. Getting him interested in this may even get him excited about his own school work he is doing now. A few suggestions are
    1. business owner
    2. accountant
    3. military
    4. teacher
    5. veterinarian
    6. social worker
    7. any careers in computers
    8. Emergency technician
    Also, talk with your child’s teacher to see if there is something she/he can do to change your son’s homework to make it connect with his interest. You are a great mother for wanting to help your son. I just hope that I have a classroom full of mothers like you when I finish my degree in education. Happy Mother’s Day!

    By thetrave on Feb 25, 2010

  3. your son is having problems because he is smart enough to know that the busy work and worksheets he’s doing in school have little to nothing to do with the careers you mention, or anything much at all, for that matter. they are simply something to occupy him while he is at school. and something to fight with his teachers/parents about.
    motivation comes from within, not without. you can threaten, you can punish, and you can reward, but those are just coercive tactics that have nothing to do with real interest in school work. read some John Holt. (try the library.)
    if you can, i’d suggest homeschooling. many kids can see right through the meaninglessness of school tasks, and they’ll just spend their whole school career fighting against it. better to get them into a one-on-one environment tailored to their individual creative interests than suffer for another TEN YRS in a system that is designed to bore them and warehouse them.
    besides, failure breeds more failure. sounds to me like he’s recognized that doing nothing is better than risking anything by trying. the best thing about homeschooling is that you can’t fail. you just work at it until you get it right.
    the Homeschooling Book of Answers (Dobson) will help.

    By jezebelr on Feb 26, 2010

  4. Just one idea…
    Over the years I have given perhaps 200 people (adults and children) their very first ride in an aircraft. And they just don’t sit there. I let them do the flying (after we get up to a safe altitude).
    I have had many parents tell me that something changed in their kids after the ride. I have had many kids come back for more. (Adults too).
    As I finish up a ride with kids I always tell them them to study hard and someday they could be doing all the flying.
    I always bring a camera and get a picture of them driving the craft around.
    Its kind of like the other person said. Reward is a powerful motivator. I think flying is better than just giving money. Its something the other kids can’t do and with the picture they get bragging rites.

    By o_r_y_g_ on Feb 26, 2010

  5. 8 year old kids want to be astronauts

    By jivesuck on Feb 26, 2010

  6. probably not until he hits high school. But if you want to boost his reading skills, for example…… try getting him interested in something like fishing + getting him a book on the subject to encourage him to learn more about it – it has the possibility of leading to him getting interested in nature (possibility of getting an interest in becoming a marine biologist, or perhaps a parks ranger for instance or a Bass tournament pro)….. and its’ also regarded as a great way to keep kids out of trouble.
    It certainly made a difference with my cousin’s son when I got him started – went almost straight from being a hyperactive brat to being the quietest & hardest concentrating I’d ever seen him.
    And once you get them interested, it becomes a great bargaining tool if you make it clear to them they don’t get to go fishing if they get into trouble or don’t study.

    By jduck197 on Feb 26, 2010

  7. hey, if u want the child to start working, there are two ways to go about it, both effective. Either when she gets bad grades punish her, or give her a few bucks for good grades. Trust me, they both work great, especialy when put together.

    By monomat9 on Feb 26, 2010

  8. I still don’t know what i want to do and i’m a 34 year old dentist.
    Don’t push the kid…maybe he’s not an academic. Maybe he’ll be an actor/singer etc.
    Don’t push or he’ll resent you.
    8 is too young to worry a career yet!

    By imadufus on Feb 27, 2010

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