Do kids need to find their passion early on?

Parent Educator & Author Betsy Brown Braun, MA, shares advice for parents on why it's not important for kids to find their passion early on in life, but how you can help them narrow it down
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Do kids need to find their passion early on?

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You know, discovering a young child's passion seems to be very much in fashion these days. Parents all over the United States are concerned that their children have or have not found their passions. I think it's a result of the pressure to achieve and to get into college and to get into a good college, because parents have been told that colleges and businesses are looking for kids that have passion about something, anything. And so now we're seeing parents of children as young as 6 year old concerned that their children hasn't found a particular passion. The truth of the matter is many people will not find their passions until they're 20-30-60, maybe never at all. A child doesn't have to have a passion about something. We want our children to be happy, to be enthusiastic, to be involved. But much like in today's world people will have many different careers, your children are going to have many different passions as they grow up. And what we applaud and we encourage is their enthusiasm and their involvement and their participation and their willingness to try new things. I think that's far more important than finding a passion.

Parent Educator & Author Betsy Brown Braun, MA, shares advice for parents on why it's not important for kids to find their passion early on in life, but how you can help them narrow it down

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Betsy Brown Braun, MA

Parent Educator & Author

Betsy Brown Braun, best-selling author of both Just Tell Me What to Say: Sensible Tips and Scripts for Perplexed Parents and You’re Not The Boss Of Me: Brat-proofing Your Four To Twelve Year-Old, is a child development and behavior specialist, parent educator, multiple birth parenting consultant, and founder of Parenting Pathways, Inc.

With over 40 years of experience in public and private early childhood and elementary education, Betsy has directed and founded school programs, taught in both public and private schools, has been a school director, and was the founding director of Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s Early Childhood Center. She holds an MA in Human Development and teaching credentials from Pacific Oaks College.

In 2001 Betsy founded Parenting Pathways, Inc. to provide guidance to parents seeking the skills and confidence needed to negotiate the often-challenging parenting pathway. She leads parenting groups, seminars, and offers private parent consultations throughout the nation.

Her bestseller, Just Tell Me What To Say, in its fourth printing,presents the tried and true tools her clients use daily to handle situations that inevitably accompany raising children ages two to six and beyond. Her second book, and second bestseller, You’re Not The Boss Of Me: Brat-Proofing Your Kidsalso in its fourth printing, is the ultimate hands-on guide to cultivating character traits that are tried-and-true "bratbusters." 

Betsy brings her vast knowledge, sensitivity, and special brand of humor to her parent consultations, to her groups, and to her presentations.

Her parenting expertise has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Cookie, Family Circle, Good Housekeeping, In Style, Parenting, Parents, Pregnancy and Newborn, Twins, Woman’s Day, and Working Mother, among other publications. She has shared her expertise on the Today Show multiple times. Other television appearances have included The Early Show, Good Morning America Now!, Fox & Friends, Rachel Ray, Dr. Phil,  The Talk, Entertainment Tonight, KCBS, KNBC, and Fox News LA. She contributes to KNX news radio on child development, and has been a guest on countless radio programs nationwide, including NPR. She writes for and has been cited in numerous websites and parenting blogs. Betsy is a frequent speaker at educational conferences, schools, and businesses.

Betsy and her husband Ray Braun are parents of adult triplets.

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