God created each of our children with special gifts and talents. One of the joys of homeschooling is our ability to enable our kids to use and develop the unique abilities God has given them even in their youth.
Two of our boys are avid birdwatchers. When I say avid, I mean that this is something they do on a daily basis, for fun. They’ve been competing in an annual youth birding competition since the youngest was a preschooler.
Last year this 6 and 8 year old, along with their two young teammates, identified 82 different bird species in a 24 hour period. Birding has become both a passion and a skill for them.
They were given the opportunity this year to speak to a homeschool co-op about how to get started with birdwatching. The boys were very nervous to give an hour long presentation to kids several years older than they are, but it was a great opportunity for them to learn new skills and share their knowledge. We worked hard to plan a presentation in which they could share what they knew about feeding birds, learning bird calls, identifying birds, using field guides, and more. The presentation went so well that they decided to polish it and seek opportunities to speak to more groups.
It was fun for them to share their passion, and they are learning public speaking skills in the process.
My oldest son is in junior high. We prayed a lot last year that the Lord would lead him to a volunteer opportunity where he could serve. The Lord opened an amazing door for our son to serve at a Christian museum. He is able to combine his love of history and his gift for working with children to help with the museum’s children’s programming.
At the same time, he is working with very knowledgeable people, learning much about the history of the church and about the Bible. This volunteer opportunity has also given him exposure to visiting experts in the field through several training opportunities, enabling him to develop his gifts and knowledge even further. Perhaps this experience will influence his career choices, as well.
This boy is also a good writer. We recently devoted some of his creative writing time to learning how to conduct interviews and write newspaper articles. He thought about local ministries which he could spotlight, and interviewed Christians about how they are serving the community. He learned a lot about local ministries such as the Crisis Pregnancy Center.
He interviewed some Christians who are actively serving the Lord and the community through ministries such as the Crisis Pregnancy Center, and wrote articles about their ministries. Then he submitted the articles to a local paper.
He was amazed when one of his articles was published! It was an encouragement to him as a writer, as well as to the ministry which was spotlighted in the article. Even had he not been published it was a great experience for him to learn more about what Christians in our community are doing, and a chance to develop and apply his gifting in a real-world situation.
How can your children use their gifts and talents to serve the church or the community? Are you praying for opportunities to develop their unique skills?
