Competition for Children, Yay or Nay?

When I was a student in formal school, competition was so familiar, especially in academic topics. Students who got high scores, first rank, or science students were considered smart. What about homeschool students? Do they need competition too? Or have they become less competitive?

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English Club for Parents which I joined yesterday discussed this topic. It is interesting because all of us, participants of English Club, are homeschool parents. There is no obligation to compete in academic or non-academic just like at formal school. Will it affect less perseverance?

Some parents think that children must join competitions, such as drawing, talent search events, or anything else. They just register their children.

Some parents support their children to join competitions based on their passion. Children who love drawing join a drawing competition and those who love sports join a sports tournament.

Other parents set their children free to choose whether they want to join competition or not. 

In my opinion, we face both competition and collaboration in real life. That's why my children are exposed to competition too even though they are homeschooled.

My elder son is a bit competitive but needs to think longer before he enters a competition. For example, he loves football and talks about it everyday. I asked him to join a football academy but he always refused. One day, his friends joined a football tournament. My son just watched his friends practice on the sidelines. I knew he wanted to join but he was unconfident.

After hours (or days?), he told his father that he wanted to join that football tournament. He asked for new football shoes. He was very enthusiastic about practicing football.

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There are children who don't feel comfortable in competition, afraid of being lost, or afraid of being judged. I told my son this competition is to practice and to have fun. Winning is a bonus. When we lose, it is okay to cry or feel disappointed for a while.

If it is still uncomfortable to join a competition which directly faces the competitors, we can join online competition or self-competition. Bebras Challenge is one of our favorite contests which doesn't feel like competition. It is an online competition about logic and numeration for primary students until high school students. The participants answer the questions at their own pace and every participant will get a certificate.

The goal of every competition my children join is not always to become a winner. When they want to try, do their best, or even just finish, it is a win for us. We celebrate it and prepare little prizes for them.

Beside competition with others, self-competition is a big challenge too! How to become discipline, how to set targets, how to manage failure, how to break self-record, and many other things. Even adults face these challenges too.

Competition is not always bad, sometimes we need competition to go forward, to be better. That's my two-cents about competition for children. What about you? Love to deal with competition or not?