How to Motivate Kids Using Their Passions with Jonathan Harris

How can parents effectively encourage their children’s interests in gaming and coding without it dominating their time or hindering their development in other areas?

Joining me is a special guest, Jonathan Harris, the mind behind parenttheirpassion.com. Get ready to dive deep into the challenges of rethinking traditional education and fostering our kids’ genuine interests.

In this episode, you will be able to:

1. Understand Jonathan Harris’s approach to blending gaming and coding into a passion-driven discipline for kids.
2. Gain strategies for guiding children to recognize and bring value to others with their natural talents.
3. Hear Harris’s take on moving beyond traditional education to focus more on cultivating children’s passions.
4. Unpack how seeking external feedback is key in helping teenagers shape and potentially monetize their skills.
5. Find inspiration in real-life examples on how to support and encourage your child’s artistic or intellectual pursuits.

Hello, fellow parents and listeners! It’s your host, Paul Banas, here at Great Dad Talks, and today, we’re diving into a conversation that I found both challenging and inspiring. I had the pleasure of speaking with Jonathan Harris, an advocate for unconventional education and the mastermind behind parenttheirpassions.com. As a father to nine kids, Jonathan has a wealth of experience in nurturing his children’s passions into practical skills for the future job market.

Encouraging Productive Passions

Jonathan shared a fascinating approach with us:

“We wanted to ensure my son’s interest in gaming was more than just play. By requiring him to write code if he wanted to continue gaming, we were able to turn his hobby into a potential career.”

It’s an innovative concept: blending a child’s interest with a productive skill. Jonathan stressed the importance of guiding children to put in the work and seeing the value in what they’re passionate about.

Building Discipline Through Interests

Jonathan believes in directing children toward discipline through their interests. His perspective is insightful: “It’s not about giving children a choice in whether to pursue their interests, but rather teaching them the discipline to explore and serve others with their talents.”

Here are some key pieces of advice that stood out during our chat:

• Transform interests into skill sets: By channeling your child’s hobbies, such as gaming or photography, into concrete skills, you help them develop discipline and add value to their passions.
• Encourage value creation: Whether it’s coding for games or offering aerial photography, guiding your child to use their interests to serve others can be rewarding.
• Have meaningful conversations: Discuss with your children how they can utilize their interests and talents in a beneficial way to themselves and others.

The Role of Parents in Guiding Passions

One of the highlights of our conversation came when Jonathan discussed the emotional drivers behind a child’s interests:

“As parents, we need to uncover what drives our children and then help them identify ways to add value to their passions.”

Jonathan’s approach is about more than just entertainment—it’s about purpose and contribution:

• Explore interests with family activities
• Provide tools and support for your kids
• Aim to serve others with talents and skills

The Importance of Serving With Talents

Jonathan emphasizes that children should learn how to move people with their talents:

“External validation plays a crucial role, especially for teens. It’s important for them to get objective feedback and find ways to bring joy or value to others.”

By engaging in depth with a child’s interests, parents can help maintain momentum and practicality as the child grows.

A Personal Touch: Jonathan’s Parenting Journey

Jonathan shared touching personal anecdotes, from his son turning a gaming passion into a coding career to his daughter’s love for horse training and how they navigated the challenges it posed for the family.

“Whether it’s horse training, digital art, or coding—guiding my children has been about balance. Introducing them to real work and connecting their passion to service.”

A Blueprint for Future Success

Jonathan Harris’s work at parenttheirpassions.com is a testament to his dedication to steering children toward finding passion, purpose, and eventually, a fulfilling career path. Personally, I’ve grappled with getting my kids involved in my business projects, hoping to impart valuable life skills but often finding resistance.

Listening to Jonathan, I realized the power of engaging children in what truly excites them and how that can lead to building their future. Parents, you can check out his resources, especially if you have kids over the age of 12 who are beginning to look toward their career paths.

As for me, if you’re curious about how my coaching and workshops can empower you as a parent, visit greatdad.com/pq and discover more about positive parenting and intelligence strategies.