Having trouble getting your child to take school seriously?  I guarantee you that the problem is focus.  I’m not talking about the focus it takes to compete an assignment or task.  I’m talking about that on which the child/teen is ultimately focused.  We sometimes call it his “vision.”  The child/teen who has a goal… a vision…  focus, if you will… will understand each step to getting to that goal.

    We have long understood this regarding fine arts and sports.  Some parents sign there kids up for sports or lessons to make them more well-rounded.  But there are other parents who see that their child has superior abilities.  Whether the child has the vision, or the parent gives the child the vision, the promise of greatness in the future causes the child to work harder and practice more than any coach or teacher requires and the parent to invest heavily.  Eventually, the child will only continue working above and beyond if he himself has the vision.  We watch child and teen prodigies all the time on the Internet and television. 

   So, why don’t we promote the same pursuit of a vision within education?  It could be that too many of us worked hard and were denied the spoils of that hard work.  Perhaps it is because factors outside our control would not allow us rapid advancement, and we do not want to get their hopes up for a different scenario.  One could argue that the same could be true of sports and fine arts.  That leaves me to conclude that the payoff for greatness in sports or fine arts is tremendously greater than that for doing well in school.  Rock stars and professional athletes do get paid tons more than most Americans.  Do well in school and college, and you get… a job.  Not very glamorous.  For most jobs, it will take years of continued work to reach a status and pay that affords one a better-than-average lifestyle.  Few will attain salaries equal to those in sports and entertainment.

 Bummer.  How, then, do we convince our gifted kids to pursue academic excellence?  The key is to focus on closer objectives.  For Lawton Academy:  a job well-done in elementary earns a position in the secondary program.  Early excellence can net a teen admission to Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics.  Excellence in high school can allow admission to a university of the teen’s choice.  Being in that location can increase the probability of remaining in that location for a career. 

The second key is to help your child/teen understand on what they should focus.  If the focus is money, unhappiness is inevitable.  If the focus is a comfortable living and happiness in one’s community, then that is attainable.  99% of students do not end up in professional sports or entertainment.   Doesn’t it make sense that we should value education for its usefulness in getting us a good education, a good career, and the ability to provide for ourselves and/or family?   This is where modeling a life on content can cause your child to gain a similar vision.  That vision becomes your child’s focus, and he/she does what is required to attain it. 

-        Michelle