How do you recognise your child has talent and from what age do you nuture it ?

Depends how you define talent......

My youngest faked a broken leg at the age of 2! We even brought him to the hospital after he screamed out in pain and refused to walk on it. Casualty Dr's gave him a cast but the specialist looked at the x-ray 2 days later and said nothing was wrong with him. He took the cast off and the little boy walked out of the hospital!

My father called him a 'lickle ginal' (sp) - i called it acting! He started drama school at 3 and just got signed to an agency.....

I think you should encourage whatever kids show an interest in, can't do any harm.

MAAT - he is 6 now and I am about to start putting him forward for auditions. The chile can sing!

Ladyday - was speaking to a scout from Watford FC who told me they are especially lookign for kids aged 5-9!!!! Can't believe they take them so young but that is how its going for UK football now. All the foreigners have taken their toll and the clubs want to train them up from young.

well got 2yrs and a bit before i can sign him up to any football club
but will do my reearch in the meantime

glad to see parents supporting their kids

If I have a son and he doesnt have health problems, he will be a professional footballer

He will be able to play and he'll probably like money so once I explain to him how much footballers earn he'll be on it

My first boy has a serious memory. With those learning cards you get to teach the alphabet and numeracy, the alphabet cards would have a letter on one side and an object beginning with that letter on the other e.g the letter Q on one side and a picture of a Queen on the other.

My first boy at 2 years old, you could get all the cards with all the letters of the alphabet and randomly strew them across the bed or the floor on any side and tell him to pick them out. So you'd say find B, or find Windmill and he look around and pick out each one like he didn't even have to think about it.

The weird thing was he didn't start talking until about a year and a half later so we well and thought he was autistic to the degree we refused to give him the MMR jab......he was like Rainman I tell you.

He's like this with films as well, recites them to the letter acting out each and every character. Growing him I used to call him Special because he clearly had special talent but was potentially a case for special needs, we had to take him for all kinds of assessments and tests.

It was always my belief that if talent is spotted then nurture it, if your child is more cerebral then don't rush him into football or sport, it's not about the money in many cases but more the consciousness to go with the talent...whether it's a money maker or not. I strongly believe money comes as a natural consequence of talent which is why it's the talent which should be nurtured and not the chase for money - it's this that makes people see themselves as failures by thinking no money means no talent - even more so if the value system they are raised on is based on being accepted and appeasing to whites.

Many of us growing up were deprived of what we wanted to really be, and that's assuming we knew what that was because it was such a batter batter lifestyle it was all about getting out there and bringing money in the house.

I vowed I'd never raise my children like that and to be ready to bankroll any of their chosen endeavours. They should be anything they want to be even better if it is something they are naturally gifted with and don't see it as boring or normal because it comes naturally to them.

I've been deprived of raising my boys now but I am happy my first can learn, I know he'll be able to reel of things like his times table without a second thought and he's already showing the signs of being a bookworm. The last time I took him out he's telling me he wants to go to WHSmith to buy some books, and he read them off the same day. Think he gets that from the mother, she was into her books.

The second one I don't know much of but from what I've seen he's on his way to being special in his own way, he seems quite bright but not seeing him grow I'm not in a position to pick out anything special in him..as such my relationship with him is more emotional.

But if there is one thing I cannot stress enough is diet. We must stop feeding our children sh!t. Over time you wouldn't believe how it translates to how the brain works. Fizzy drinks and crisps and Macdonald's and all that should be very very few and far between if at all.