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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Eleanor Gordon-Smith

My daughter is five. Am I letting her down by not pushing her towards a future career?

Eleanor GordonSmith
A painting depicting Mozart as a child playing piano
‘To be a child or adolescent “well on the way” to a career defined by excellence, you have to put in astonishing amounts of effort.’ Illustration: WikiMediaCommons

I’m a father of two, a five-year-old girl and a one-year-old boy. They are both happy and healthy and doing well in life. My daughter started school this year and loves it, she is leading her class in phonics and receiving great feedback from her teacher. But I keep hearing about child prodigies who had already started practising their crafts long before five.

From pianists to F1 drivers, it seems some kids are already well on their way, and I don’t know if I should be encouraging, or forcing, my daughter in one certain direction. I do a completely different job to my parents and didn’t settle till later in life. Am I letting my daughter down by not pushing her harder towards a future career?

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