WEBVTT

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You know, that moment when you ask
a child a question and you get the

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shoulder shrug or the, I dunno, you're
trying to engage them, but you get

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one word answer or you get resistance
instead of opening a rich conversation.

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So let's just think for a moment,
what's the actual purpose of a question?

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A question is there to make you think.

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And if you, as the adult, parent
or educator give the child the

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answer or you tell them, did you
know, whatever, whatever, whatever.

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You are robbing them of an opportunity
to wonder and think for themselves.

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The purpose of questioning
is to invite thinking.

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It's not to give the correct response
or to show how clever you are.

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It's a strategy to invite
exploration and critical thinking.

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It's a strategy to invite
wonder and imagination.

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It's what real learning is all about.

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Wrestling with problems and
experimenting with possible answers.

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That's why wonder
questions are so powerful.

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Those questions that start with, I wonder,
I wonder why or what do you notice?

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These types of questions move away
from closed questions where there's

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only one possible answer to open
questions with multiple possibilities.

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When we are trying to nurture curiosity,
the foundation of real learning,

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we must resist the urge to answer
children's questions, and I know

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that's a really hard thing for us.

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Because if you answer their questions,
it doesn't teach them anything, and

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the chances are they're probably gonna
forget what you're saying anyway.

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What we want to do is rather to say.

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Let's find out.

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Now you're building on the child's
interests and their knowledge.

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Now you have an opportunity for
exploration, for real inquiry.

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This is now an opportunity for you
to model how to look for answers to

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questions, how you use books in the
index, for example, to find answers,

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if you don't wanna read the entire book,

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how to use keywords to search
for an answer on Google.

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It's a great opportunity to use technology
for learning and for good, although

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for me, a book of course is always
the first stop in early childhood.

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Keep technology as far away from
young children as you possibly can.

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If you can use real books and perhaps
you have to conduct an experiment to find

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the answer or go to the zoo or on some
kind of field trip, then this is so much

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richer than simply popping a question into
the search bar of an internet browser.

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Now, wait time is another really important
factor when we are asking questions.

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Don't be tempted to jump in.

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And give the answer, give the
child time to think, to formulate

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the answer in their heads,

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or sometimes you also have to frame
the question in a different way.

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Often, children are afraid to answer
because they're afraid of being wrong.

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And this is where you really have
to assure them that there's no right

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or wrong answer in this instance.

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And if the answer is wrong, you're
gonna help them find the right answer.

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And this brings me to what happens
when a child does answer incorrectly.

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Perhaps it's a simple math question,
something like two plus three,

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and the child answers incorrectly.

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What you don't do is
immediately correct the child.

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And make them feel stupid and embarrassed.

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Instead, you say something like, let's
try again, and you provide them with

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concrete materials to help them understand
and so that they can count correctly,

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'cause young children
operate at a concrete level.

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It takes time for them to
understand abstract concepts or

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to add numbers in their heads.

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So encourage in this instance, concrete
materials to help them understand.

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And the same goes for scientific concepts.

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Creating an experiment or observing
changes in something is going to be

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far more helpful and benefit their
understanding than you just reading

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about it or telling them the answer.

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Too many people nowadays
are afraid of questions.

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In the political sphere, it's because
they simply wanna avoid hard truths

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or because they don't want to be shown
up for the shallow individuals that

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they so often are 'cause they actually
haven't taken the time to educate

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themselves on specific topics or to be
curious as to the alternative answers.

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They simply accept narratives
instead of thinking critically.

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So let's not raise the
next generation of sheep.

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Let's make sure that we can raise children
that are not afraid to ask questions.

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Children that are critical
thinkers, children that understand

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bias and how to investigate.

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This all starts with asking
questions and having the

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confidence to search for answers.

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And if you're looking for some
examples of types of questions to

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ask and to encourage thinking and
wondering, then download my free PDF.

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I've created it for you.

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It has open-ended question prompts and
some top tips that promote curiosity.

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I'll leave a link for you in a show note.

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So thank you for
listening today's episode.

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I know there's been a long break
between the last one and today, and

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if you found value in today's episode,
please hit the share button and share

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it with someone that you think would
appreciate this kind of content too.

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That's the only way
this podcast will grow.

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So thanks so much for listening, and
until next time, stay blooming curious