When both parents play/sing/dance, the children probably will too. This is called a musical household - I've seen them. The rest of us buy keyboards in hope Timmy and Tammy show an interest, drag them to lessons until they fight back too hard, and end up with Metal Heads.

As a long time chorister, I ended up with 6 Metal Heads, 2 Country Music fans, 1 Madonna fan, 1 who hates music altogether, 0 Musicians (all stepkids and foster kids).

You say that these parents have given their children great gifts.  I would say that depends.  I would only agree if those children genuinely had a passion for the arts, and devoting all their time to it was a joy for them.  Otherwise, I would wonder whose dream this was - the children's or the parents'?  Think of what those children could have lost out on....... time spent on a variety of different activities, time spent with friends, time spent in school, time spent alone just doing nothing much, time to play........I'm not sure I'm convinced that the pursuit of excellence in one field at a young age is necessarily a great gift.  It just depends.

I agree with you, Diana. I suppose it is possible that the children have truly enjoyed this, but IMO it's pretty unlikely that it was their dream. I think in many cases like this it's the parents living out their dreams vicariously through their children.

I think you are making accusations without direct knowledge. When both parents are into something, the children will tend to be attracted to it. It becomes part of their value system. Shared activities build strong families. There are hockey families, soccer families, equestrian families, and on and on. It's actually normal. But sometimse the best of families end up with metal heads.

Not making accusations, just wondering.  And btw, my brother was a metalhead.....is now a UCC choir director!!

I think children quite naturally fall in love with things that surround them.  Sports, books, art, music.  Whatever.  A family produces three sons who all play in the NHL.  There is talent there for sure but also nurturing and exposure.

A musical family, everyone plays an instrument.....  ,will surround the kids with music and it will be a natural place to spend time.  The issues seem to arise with the child who doesn't have the love or interest.

Are some kids taken advantage of by the paretns, certainly, but individually you can't know.

I also think it important to recognise that some children have that drive to pursue something to see how far they go.  It doesn't necessarily go anywhere beyond personal excellence but that is a good thing too.

My daughter dances at a high degree.  Now, with university of the horizon, she understands that it probably wont be a career.  But the exposure, commitment, dedication is a part of her and will take her far.

As to scholarships and money.  You dont necessarily get scholarships for excellence in music or any particular area.  Most schools look at the whle package, and unless you are one of those child prodidgies, playing concerts at 5 or 6 you are not that unusual.  Gifted kid musicians are everywhere. 

I think it really depends on whether the child has a passion for it. (Unless you really are willing to chain them to the instrument). My son, who had always shown interest in music took piano for three years. He liked it well enough but it was always work to get him to practice. He always did the minimum necessary He did his grade 1 exam, did really well, then promptly quit to take guitar. He paid for half of his bass guitar and practicing is not an issue. He also plays on his own (things he doesn't have to practice for lessons) and has started a band with some friends (he's twelve). His teacher says he's one of the best students he has. Is he going to be a famous rock star, like he wants? I don't know and I'm not particularly worried (although we jokingly tell him he's our retirement plan). what I do care about is  he's found something  he really loves and that he's good at.

If the parents have a real passion for something that it can rub off the kids sometimes.  This happens often in musical and sporting families. I think that the kids are blessed if it is their passion and they had the opportunity to learn so much from their parents and proably the other people who they have performed with.

 I read about a musical family (known too, they were somewhat famous). The parents used to leave different instruments 'laying around' and watch which intrument each child would seem to gravitate to. Probably much easier than dictating:  "YOU: PIANO.  YOU: Violin. YOU GUITAR."

On that note: I may get my ; 7-year-old a tambourine.

 PS Sorry

she likes to dance and I thought a tambourine would be like a two-in-one.

Hey...Metal heads can go on to greatness too.  I mean, they've only seen the light :P

As-Salaamu Alaikum

-Omni

I don't know.  I think that it is a productive use of time.   If done properly you can encourage kids to learn more about themselves and not waste time watching tv and playing video games.

Think of what I could accomplish if I took online courses or practiced my instruments instead of being on wondercafe.  

Metal Heads! YAAAHHHHH!!! (my language, or it used to be back in the day.)