This has been on my mind today…
Someone said it to me when I was young.
“You have so much potential. You just need to apply yourself.”
It was meant as encouragement.
It didn’t feel like it.
Potential, the way it was used, meant: you are not enough yet.
It was a gap. A deficit. A thing I was failing to become.
For years I carried it that way.
But I’ve been reclaiming that word.
Because potential — real potential — isn’t about falling short of someone else’s vision for you.
And it isn’t about succeeding at someone else’s vision for you either.
It’s about knowing who you actually are.
What genuinely makes you come alive.
And learning to chase that — unapologetically — without needing it to match what anyone else had in mind for you.
Helping Kids Find Their Path
That’s what we should be teaching our kids.
Not: live up to the potential we see in you.
Not: become the thing we think you can be, or ought to be.
But: your potential is limitless — and it belongs to you.
Help them find their own passion. Their own path.
And then get out of the way and let them follow it.
Even when it’s not the path you imagined.
Especially then.
Recognizing True Potential
Because a child who grows up knowing what makes them happy — and believing they’re allowed to pursue it — is not wasted potential.
They are potential, fully realized.
Just not in the way anyone predicted.
Consider a child who loves drawing more than anything else. Traditional schooling might emphasize math and science, but in homeschooling, you can nurture that artistic passion. Provide them with art supplies, enroll them in online art classes, or visit art museums together.
Every child I’ve encountered in this work has it.
Not the kind measured in test scores.
The kind that shows up when a kid is given a problem they actually care about.
When they’re trusted to figure something out.
When no one is standing over them deciding what they’re worth.
Imagine a child who loves animals. Instead of dismissing it as a phase, encourage them to volunteer at an animal shelter or start a small pet-sitting business. These experiences can ignite a lifelong passion for veterinary science or animal care.
Homeschooling: A New Perspective on Potential
The system called a lot of us wasted potential.
What it really meant was: we didn’t know what to do with you.
Homeschooling, at its best, is a refusal to let that label land.
It says: your potential is not a deficit. Your potential is not an obligation to me as your parent, or to teachers, or to anyone else.
It is a direction.
And we will follow it together.
In homeschooling, you have the freedom to tailor your child’s education to their interests and strengths. If your child is fascinated by history, you can dive deep into historical documentaries, reenactments, and biographies. If they are drawn to coding, there are countless resources and coding camps available to explore.
Homeschooling allows for a personalized approach, ensuring that no child’s potential is wasted. It’s about creating an environment where children feel safe to explore, make mistakes, and grow at their own pace.
Sathish
still learning, still unlearning