Ideas / Interest and aptitude
An idea from Sui Learning
Interest and aptitude
Aptitude points, interest steers. You facilitate; you don't drive.
In plain words
Watch what comes easily to a child and name it out loud. "It's easy, anyone could do it" is what talent sounds like from the inside. Then follow what they're interested in, because interest is what keeps a person practicing after everyone else has gone home. The teacher's job is to clear the road, not to choose the destination.
The research behind it
- Children educate themselves through play and self-direction. Peter Gray, Free to Learn (2013), as cited in Sui Learning.
- Children learn most when they follow their own curiosity, at their own pace. John Holt, How Children Learn (1967), as cited in Sui Learning.
Questions this answers
- How do I find out what my child is good at?
- Should I push my child toward a career?
- How do I support my child's interests?
Where this falls short
Sui Learning names David Epstein's Range (2019) as the strongest counterargument to early specialization.
In the book
In Sui Learning: First Principles; Early Specialization.
Read the full answers
When should a child start specializing in one field?How do I motivate my child to learn without rewards?
Related ideas
The specialization pathAutonomy
Cite this idea. Trenton Rich, "Interest and aptitude," in Homeschooling to Create High Achievers in All Areas of Life: Sui Learning (2022), suilearn.ing/idea-interest-and-aptitude.html. Free to quote, copy and reuse with credit under CC BY 4.0. The book itself is under normal copyright.