You know, that moment when you ask a child a question and you get the
shoulder shrug or the, I dunno, you're trying to engage them, but you get
one word answer or you get resistance instead of opening a rich conversation.
So let's just think for a moment, what's the actual purpose of a question?
A question is there to make you think.
And if you, as the adult, parent or educator give the child the
answer or you tell them, did you know, whatever, whatever, whatever.
You are robbing them of an opportunity to wonder and think for themselves.
The purpose of questioning is to invite thinking.
It's not to give the correct response or to show how clever you are.
It's a strategy to invite exploration and critical thinking.
It's a strategy to invite wonder and imagination.
It's what real learning is all about.
Wrestling with problems and experimenting with possible answers.
That's why wonder questions are so powerful.
Those questions that start with, I wonder, I wonder why or what do you notice?
These types of questions move away from closed questions where there's
only one possible answer to open questions with multiple possibilities.
When we are trying to nurture curiosity, the foundation of real learning,
we must resist the urge to answer children's questions, and I know
that's a really hard thing for us.
Because if you answer their questions, it doesn't teach them anything, and
the chances are they're probably gonna forget what you're saying anyway.
What we want to do is rather to say.
Let's find out.
Now you're building on the child's interests and their knowledge.
Now you have an opportunity for exploration, for real inquiry.
This is now an opportunity for you to model how to look for answers to
questions, how you use books in the index, for example, to find answers,
if you don't wanna read the entire book,
how to use keywords to search for an answer on Google.
It's a great opportunity to use technology for learning and for good, although
for me, a book of course is always the first stop in early childhood.
Keep technology as far away from young children as you possibly can.
If you can use real books and perhaps you have to conduct an experiment to find
the answer or go to the zoo or on some kind of field trip, then this is so much
richer than simply popping a question into the search bar of an internet browser.
Now, wait time is another really important factor when we are asking questions.
Don't be tempted to jump in.
And give the answer, give the child time to think, to formulate
the answer in their heads,
or sometimes you also have to frame the question in a different way.
Often, children are afraid to answer because they're afraid of being wrong.
And this is where you really have to assure them that there's no right
or wrong answer in this instance.
And if the answer is wrong, you're gonna help them find the right answer.
And this brings me to what happens when a child does answer incorrectly.
Perhaps it's a simple math question, something like two plus three,
and the child answers incorrectly.
What you don't do is immediately correct the child.
And make them feel stupid and embarrassed.
Instead, you say something like, let's try again, and you provide them with
concrete materials to help them understand and so that they can count correctly,
'cause young children operate at a concrete level.
It takes time for them to understand abstract concepts or
to add numbers in their heads.
So encourage in this instance, concrete materials to help them understand.
And the same goes for scientific concepts.
Creating an experiment or observing changes in something is going to be
far more helpful and benefit their understanding than you just reading
about it or telling them the answer.
Too many people nowadays are afraid of questions.
In the political sphere, it's because they simply wanna avoid hard truths
or because they don't want to be shown up for the shallow individuals that
they so often are 'cause they actually haven't taken the time to educate
themselves on specific topics or to be curious as to the alternative answers.
They simply accept narratives instead of thinking critically.
So let's not raise the next generation of sheep.
Let's make sure that we can raise children that are not afraid to ask questions.
Children that are critical thinkers, children that understand
bias and how to investigate.
This all starts with asking questions and having the
confidence to search for answers.
And if you're looking for some examples of types of questions to
ask and to encourage thinking and wondering, then download my free PDF.
I've created it for you.
It has open-ended question prompts and some top tips that promote curiosity.
I'll leave a link for you in a show note.
So thank you for listening today's episode.
I know there's been a long break between the last one and today, and
if you found value in today's episode, please hit the share button and share
it with someone that you think would appreciate this kind of content too.
That's the only way this podcast will grow.
So thanks so much for listening, and until next time, stay blooming curious