WEBVTT

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If children aren't focusing or
interested in learning, it's probably

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not because they're lazy, and it's
probably not because you need better

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behavior management or to develop deeper
relationships with the children you teach.

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It might be because they're not curious.

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And before you panic, this is not about
turning your classroom or homeschool

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upside down or abandoning structure.

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In fact, the real solution might
be combining something very old

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with something very responsive.

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I keep seeing teachers and parents
everywhere saying the same thing.

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Children won't start, they refuse.

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They're distracted.

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They can't focus, they don't care.

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And I totally understand the
frustration, but here's what I've

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noticed over the years teaching K
to two when children are genuinely

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curious, focus is really the problem.

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Structure isn't the problem.

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Content isn't the problem.

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The problem is when learning has
no ignition point, when there's

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nothing to spark interest.

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'cause remember, we are up
against screens nowadays.

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Recently, as you know, if you've
been following me for a while, I've

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switched from a traditional teaching
model to a classical education

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model, and I'll do more episodes
on classical education in future.

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But as you know, if you've been following
me for a while, I'm a big fan of

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inquiry-based learning, and so I've been
looking at how inquiry-based learning

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fits into classical education, and I've
been pleasantly surprised at how these two

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approaches actually complement each other.

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Thank goodness.

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Now stay with me until the end
when I'm going to introduce you to

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a framework to help you implement
everything I'm telling you today.

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Now we tend to think of
education in three camps.

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There's the traditional, which has
been taught in most schools right

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now, which is based very much on the
industrial style model of teaching, and

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I'm not focusing on that here today.

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Classical education, which is
really the old way of teaching.

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It's structured, it's content rich, it's
teacher led, and then there's inquiry

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based learning, which is more responsive.

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It's child led sort of,
and it's curiosity driven.

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But what if disengagement is
happening because we are separating

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what actually belongs together.

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Now there's a thought.

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Classical education you see
focuses on building a strong,

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coherent knowledge base.

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Strong language, rich stories
and ideas, and cognitive

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challenge as well as structure.

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And all these things I've intuitively

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a huge supporter of, but without
curiosity, it can just become

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compliance driven learning.

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On the other hand, inquiry based
learning gives you ownership

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or gives children ownership.

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Help gets that questioning
going, which is also very much

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part of classical education.

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There's also the components
of investigation.

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There's a lot of energy and
engagement with inquiry based

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learning, which of course is why
I like to use it, 'cause that's.

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The kind of way I roll, but
without structure inquiry can

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also become scattered and chaotic.

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But inquiry-based learning and
classical education is actually

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a very powerful combination.

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Classical gives children content
and knowledge that's worth knowing.

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Inquiry gives them a reason to care.

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And when you combine content with
genuine investigation, curiosity

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ignites and when curiosity ignites,

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focus follows.

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So here are six steps that you can
implement right away to get your

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students more focused and curious.

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Number one is start with rich
content, not just activities.

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Instead of reading or lecturing, and
then following that with a worksheet, try

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reading a vivid powerful picture book.

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Or a story or bring in a real object
or a beautiful image or a question

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tied to the narrative, give them
something worth wondering about.

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Number two is ask before you tell.

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After you've introduced the
content, ask what do you notice?

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What do you think is happening?

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Why do you think that
this tiny little shift.

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Activates ownership.

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Number three is teach explicitly
after the curiosity is sparked.

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This is where classical structure shines.

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After discussion, you teach
the vocabulary explicitly.

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You model the writing explicitly.

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You build a sentence together,
you practice the skills.

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So what happens is that curiosity opens
the door, and structure builds the skill.

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And number four is make your tasks
short, clear, and purposeful.

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'cause young children disengage
when work feels disconnected or

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when it feels endless or when
they don't understand the point.

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So instead, tie your task directly
back to the question that you explored.

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You might say something like, we are
writing this because we're trying

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to explain what we discovered.

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Now, the work suddenly has meaning.

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Number five is protect the cognitive load.

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Young children cannot focus for
long periods without mental breaks.

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Your structure might look like 10
minutes of deep learning and focus.

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Then you have a movement break.

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Then you can do some reflection
and then you repeat the process and

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this, prevents that refusal spiral.

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And number six is make narration a habit.

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And this is a powerful strategy that
I've just recently learned from the

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classical tradition and Charlotte Mason.

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This is when you have children
retell what they have just heard you

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read or what they've just heard you
teach, you let them explain it or

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teach it back in their own words.

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Narration is a powerful strategy that
simultaneously builds memory and focus,

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and I've been seeing just how powerful
this is in my very own class with my

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little kindies over the past three weeks.

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So if you want children to focus,
give them something worth focusing on.

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This is exactly why I created
curiosity without chaos.

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Not to make learning louder or to
pile more onto your plate, but to

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show you how to design learning
that ignites curiosity while still

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keeping structure calm and clarity.

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And curiosity without chaos is gonna
help you integrate your planning is

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going to help you structure inquiry
calmly and without overwhelm.

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And if your biggest struggle right
now is getting your children to engage

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and focus, then curiosity without
chaos might be just what you need.

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Get the link in the show notes or in
the description if you are on YouTube.

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And thanks so much for listening.

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If you appreciate this episode or the
content that I create, then please

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leave a review on Apple or Spotify or
wherever you listen to podcasts that

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will really help the show be discovered.

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So until next time, take care of
yourself and be blooming curious.