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It’s a common belief that, for most people, it takes about 10,000 hours, or 6 to 10 years, of practice to master a skill.

This is not true in every case, though. Granted, it’s about the quality of the practice as well.

But, there’s much you can do to help your child master competitive skills early in life.

Enrolling your child in weekend or after-school programs that have a clear focus is a great solution.

Think about it: Children can understand a lot. They may lack the wisdom of adults, and a certain level of maturity.

But, in subjects of interest, they can often understand more than adults give them credit for. They can build great skills that surpass even adults in many scenarios.

We can see the proof of this in how many of them play video-games, or do other things they enjoy. Video-games have undergone much criticism throughout the years, but they’re evolving.

As video-games evolve, they need higher skills to play. How minors are able to show that they can do well in these games proves that they can learn great skills, early in life.

The question is not whether they can build skills. The question is about whether we, as parents, can redirect that energy.

Can we get our children to focus all that youthful energy into developing a marketable skill? If we can, then they can have a professional skill developed before they even leave high school.

Before they even make it to college.

Paying Attention To Your Child

If your child begins showing interest in a marketable subject area, wonderful. There’s nothing stopping them from learning computer science, engineering, and more.

There’s also more than the skill itself to consider. There’s the concept of what mental muscles they build while developing those skills.

For instance, math is a universal tool for progressing in the STEM fields. How much of an advantage would your child have if they understood statistics at 12?

Meanwhile, many kids at that age are still doing basic multiplication.

By the time your child would reach high school, they’d already be doing college-level work. Or, they’d at least have a college-level understanding in their field of passion.

Then, by the time they’re ready for college, imagine how much more prepared they’ll be for the job market.

The Competitiveness of the Job Market

The international job market shows no mercy. It doesn’t care about what anyone’s excuses are.

It only cares about what skills one has, and what value one can deliver with those skills to an employer.

In any given market, it’s natural to have competition. But, the majority of the people competing for a job in any given field followed a standard path.

They may have gone through regular public education. Then, they did as well as they did or didn’t do in high school and college.

Then, they apply to as many jobs as they can, hoping the best for a response.

But, employers around the world are caring less about resumes. More about portfolios.

The average person who steps into the job market doesn’t usually have a good portfolio. In their perception, there’s no way for them to develop a portfolio if they haven’t had a job yet.

But that’s not the most efficient way to think. You can develop a portfolio in any given field long before you actually get a paid job.

The projects that your child works on as they grow can develop the portfolio they need.

It can help them win scholarships. And show their employer that even though they’re young, they have years of experience.

It’s Easier Than You Think 

Let’s say your child starts at 12 learning basic computer science. They work on some early projects in a fun environment.

That’s already the start of a portfolio.

Then, let’s say they move on to learning intermediate computer science sometime later. By the time they’re 18 and ready for college, they’ve got six years of experience.

Six to eight years is the average time frame to earn a doctorate’s degree. Employers realize this.

At which point, they’re already competing for the job market before they even get to college.

What are your thoughts on this?