If you've ever wondered why some children light up with joy when they learn.
While others seem bored and disconnected, this episode will
change how you teach forever.
Today, I'm sharing the missing ingredient that most early learning environments
ignore, but it's the secret to raising curious, confident, lifelong learners.
And no, it's not a fancy program or an expensive resource.
It's something far more powerful.
And natural.
Whether you're a teacher or a parent, stay with me because you're about
to learn how to foster wonder and exploration and engagement in a way
that transforms children's lives and your classroom and your home forever.
Let me take you back to my second year of teaching in a pre-primary classroom, I
had all the beautiful displays on my wall.
I had perfectly labeled outcomes, maps and all the rest of it, but the
kids never even looked at that wall.
But one morning while playing outside, some children found
this weird and interesting looking bug on one of the trees.
And within minutes, the children started gathering and they started
asking questions, what is it?
What is, where does it live?
What does it eat?
And that spontaneous moment became a week long, if not
more, inquiry into Lady Birds.
We took a photo of this bug and we found it on Google that it was
actually the larvae of a Lady Bird, one part of the Lady Bird Lifecycle.
We started researching lady birds.
We created lifecycle diagrams and the children searched the tree for lady bird
eggs and adults and juvenile lady birds.
We read picture books.
We created art and we even used the spots on lady birds to create
learning experiences in maths.
And of course we wrote facts about lady birds.
I. The learning outcomes, well, it was just tick, tick, tick.
But more importantly than ticking off those curriculum
outcomes, the kids were lit up.
They were excited that week they weren't just learning.
They were curious, they were driven, and they were hungry to know more.
That moment changed everything for me.
I realized that curiosity was the engine of learning, and since
then I've made curiosity, not the curriculum, the starting point.
I've used nature, open-ended play, and child led inquiry
to create magic in my lessons.
Because here's what no one tells you.
When you follow children's questions.
They learn more, not less.
And in fact, even I learned stuff about lady birds that I didn't know before.
If I had just stuck rigidly to that curriculum, neither myself nor the
children would ever experience this life changing magic of curiosity.
So what can you do today to bring that spark, that lifelong learning
of curiosity into your learners?
Well, I've created a curiosity toolkit just for you, and inside you will find
provocations that spark curiosity and inquiry, open-ended questions to deepen
thinking, and even a planning template to weave curiosity into your week, and
of course a little bit more as well.
And whether you're teaching in a classroom or at home, this toolkit will
help you shift from compliance based teaching to connection based learning.
You can download it now.
At Go dot blooming curious.com/curiosity toolkit or click the link that I'll
leave for you in the show notes.
Listen, if you love this episode, don't forget to follow the show and share it
with an educator who needs this reminder, especially, if you're teaching young
children, curiosity is the curriculum.
Thanks for listening.
Don't forget to subscribe so that you'll be notified each week
when a new episode goes live.
I'll see you again next week, same time, same place, and remember,
until next week, stay and curious.
Take care of yourself.