Nobody in our house has to say, “Go and study biology.” Our son’s love for biology started on its own, and my Wednesdays now quietly revolve around it.
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Wednesdays Belong to Biology
Every Wednesday my son’s love for biology takes him to a class that runs for nearly three hours. I do the driving, dropping him off and picking him up when it ends. Those hours are not wasted. I carry my work along and use the wait for my PhD: a research paper for a seminar, a presentation, or some part of my research tools.
Last week I could not go. He had trouble finding an auto and came home quite sad. So I told him, “From now on I will come and pick you up. Don’t worry.” He did not show it much, but I could see he was pleased.
Where This Love for Biology Comes From
We never tell him to study, because he will not sit down and study by himself. But whenever we do ask him to study, he opens Biology. He loves colouring and drawing the figures, and he does it with real care. That is love for biology in its simplest form: no marks, no rewards, just the joy of the subject.
Maths is another story. He simply does not like it, so he stopped it completely after Class 10, and we respected that.
The funny thing is that all of us in this house love biology. My husband is a great lover of the subject. Our daughter chose Biology as her main subject. I was very fond of it myself, especially the zoology part, and I was the topper in my school in Class 10. So perhaps he has simply got it from his parents.
Maybe that is why it never feels like pressure at home. Nobody is trying to make him love the subject. He is simply growing up in a house where everyone is fond of it, and a child’s love for biology can grow quietly in a home like that, without anyone forcing it.
Researchers call this kind of inner drive intrinsic motivation. Work on self-determination in education notes that students’ natural drive to learn tends to fade through school, and that teaching which respects their freedom to choose helps keep it alive.
If you are a parent trying to read your child’s interests, my post on 10 questions to ask before choosing a stream may help. One of the simplest questions is this: what does your child reach for when nobody is telling them what to do?
A Drive Full of Stories
After class he sits in the front seat with me and tells me all the vishesham, as we say in Malayalam. Who came, who did not, what happened in class: the whole day’s news arrives before we reach home.
He is also his teacher’s little helper. He and one other boy open the hall for her before class and close it up after. This week he even helped her find an auto, and only then did he get into our car. I love seeing that side of him.
Many mothers I know are juggling their own work or studies with pick-ups and drop-offs. If that is you, these drives are not a distraction from your goals. They are part of the life you are building.
3 Things I Learn Driving My Son to Class
- Interest does what pressure cannot. A child with a real love for biology, or any subject, will study it without being told.
- Showing up says more than speaking up. Being at the gate when class ends, even with a paper waiting on my laptop, tells him that he matters.
- Letting go makes room. Maths was not for him, and Biology is. Accepting the one gave the other space to grow.
If your child is caught between what the family expects and what he or she enjoys, start by watching what they do when no one is watching. A love for biology, or art, or maths, or music, is a clue worth following.
On the days I cannot go, I feel sad myself. Those Wednesday drives have quietly become some of my favourite hours of the week.
What subject does your child reach for without being asked? Tell me in the comments.