Do you make your children take lessons?

i don't force my children to take lessons if they don't want to, if they take the lessons they want it from the beginning, later they want to give up, i will not allow them to quit halfway

I am not a mother yet. But as a child, I also experienced taking different lessons during the summer season, like piano lessons, dancing lessons, etc. Most of these lessons were taken because of my Mom's prodding. But whenever she saw that I am not having fun with the lessons, she decides to discontinue it. I know she got disappointed when I stopped my piano lessons. But it would have turned out to be a waste of time and money to continue on if I was no longer happy. Nowadays, I know that some schools or teachers offer some lessons for free. This is to encourage moms to bring their children to school and test things out. If it turns out that the child is loving it, she can enroll him/her. But if the child doesn't have any interest with the lesson, they can always look for other classes. I belive that this is a win-win situation because you are not forcing the classes on your child. There will be no resentment on the child's part and no disappointment on the mother's part. As parents, I believe that we cannot force everything on our children. Show them all the opportunities/possibilities out there and let them choose. We can guide them in making the decision but we cannot make the decision for them.

I never made my children take lessons if they didn't want to. My youngest daughter was invited to school band (in gradeschool.) They thought she could learn to play the clarinet. After a few weeks it was obvious she hated it. I figure as long as it was their choice and they gave it a good try, then it would be wrong to 'make' her. Just like adults, there are things we'd like to learn and go to it full blast, and others we're not that crazy about. My other daughter was asked to try French horn...she loved it and looked forwards to each and every one of her lessons. Myself? I was forced to play organ when I was a child. I wanted piano lessons, yet the choice was not mine and my parents bought an organ...so I felt obligated if you know what I mean lol. I would never do that to a child. If I was in your spot, I think I'd have an honest discussion and ask the parents if this was the childs choice or theirs. Many parents don't realize the resentment that can come up from doing an activity like that when it was something they didn't choose for themselves. Sure, we'd all love to have a child who can play a musical instrument...but it has to come out of the children's desire and not the parents. If the child truly wants to learn it, then they have the motivation to do well. I think too I would also tell the parents of how it went with other children you've tried teaching who had their parents force them. Maybe looking at it from a 'been there/done that' view might change their minds. Good luck, that's a hard spot for you to be in!

I don't know if the child will resent you, their parents on the other hand.... I couldn't imagine forcing my child to take music lessons or play sports or join the scouts or anything extra if they didn't show any interest. That just seems like I'd be trying to make trouble for myself. Now, on the other hand, if my child asked for lessons, they would have to make a deal to try as hard as they could and participate for at least 6 months. Then we would assess if they wanted to continue. I wouldn't wan them jumping from one thing to another because there were some non-fun days, or it seemed hard. That's why we'd have to have a set time frame to see how they liked it.

I as a child was forced to take part in sports. I hated it with a passion, but done so because I didn't wanna hurt my dad's feelings and knew if i threw a fit I'd get in trouble. My dad passed away a few years later and then I kept doing it because I knew it was something he'd wanted, even though he knew I would have wanted to quit. I went on to play highschool and some college level sports. Now, I have kids and have not pushed my oldest to do anything he's not wanted to do, because I was a child of being pushed. I want my kids to do things that make them happy.

I dont believe that they should be but if they think that they would learn something from it like a life lesson then it depends on the person

as an enthusiastic mom who wants the best for her son, i too made the mistake of forcing violin lessons on my son who seems to be the least bit musically inclined. but very soon, i realised that i was only trying to force on him something which i had missed out on my childhood. anyway, the violin lessons were discontinued and both of us are happy now. :)

The first teacher of a child is its mother. It learns every thing from the mother. As they grow they join kindergarten school. The teacher takes care of the child. but mothers role as teacher never stops. After the child returns from the school she should check up what the teacher tought and repeat the same and check whether homework was given. she should see that the home work to be done.