How To Nurture Your Child's Curiosity

How to nurture your child's curiosity?
What is curiosity? How important is it for a parent to know about this? If it is important, then how
can I nurture it in my child? -- These are the questions that a curious parent asks in order to
develop curiosity in his/her child.
So this article is about answering the questions above. Firstly, curiosity is generated by a desire
to make sense of the environment. Parents and teachers don’t have to “make” their children
curious. Children are born curious. Children are always enthusiastic, they hypothesise what they
see, test and conclude to uncover the world's mysteries. But most of the children seem to lose,
what once came naturally, as time passes.
In fact, research shows that it is the child’s internal desire to learn, not external pressure, that
motivates him to seek out new experiences which in itself leads to greater success in life.
One of the research study of Maw & Maw, points that:
“Curiosity is demonstrated by an elementary school child when he:

1. Reacts positively to new, strange, incongruous, or mysterious elements in his
environment by moving toward them, by exploring, or by manipulating them
2. Exhibits a need or a desire to know more about himself and/or his environment
3. Scans his surroundings seeking new experiences and
4. Persists in examining and exploring stimuli in order to know more about them”
Now let us ask a very basic question, "What does a curious child generally do?" - They ask
questions!
Do you know a child who is full of questions? - Does your child ask many questions? What do
you do when they pose a question at you? They believe that parents, teachers and elders know
a everything about the world. Listening to their questions and helping them find out the answers
are vital to their learning. The way you respond can affect what and how a child learns.
Let’s take a look at a conversation between a parent and a child:

-------------
Child: "Mamma! why do big aeroplanes do not fall down but my paper aeroplane falls down?"
Suma: "Hmm..you cannot understand now even if I explain beta! Don't worry, you will learn
when you are grow up!"
Child1:
--------------
Child2: "Mamma! why do big aeroplanes do not fall down but my paper aeroplane falls down?"
Radha: "Because a pilot can sit in his plane, but you cannot sit in your paper plane!".
Child1:
--------------
Child3: "Mamma! why do big aeroplanes do not fall down but my paper aeroplane falls down?"
Rama: "A plane's engines are designed to move it forward at high speed. That makes air flow
rapidly over the wings, which throw the air down toward the ground, generating an upward force
called lift that overcomes the plane's weight and holds it in the sky. So it's the engines that move
a plane forward, while the wings move it upward."
Child3:
---------------
Now let’s look at a conversation between a curious parent and a curious child:
Smaran: "Mamma! why do big aeroplanes do not fall down but my paper aeroplane falls down?"
Neha: "Umm..a very good question beta. Is your paper plane falling down immediately you
leave it from your hand?"
Smaran: "No...it flies for some time and then it falls".
Neha: "Nice..so it is flying for sometime...why do you think it is flying in first place?"
Smaran: "Mom! see this wings, wind is pushing these wings upwards, that is why it is flying."
Neha:"Great...that's right. If you don't apply force with your hand, will it fly assuming there is no
wind blowing?"
Smaran: "No mamma...it will fall down immediately.."
Neha: "Haa...you are giving force to your plane? Then who is giving force to big planes?"
Smaran: "Haa...pilot is giving force from inside..."
Neha: "Good! but he is not giving by himself, he operates the engine that gives force to the
plane. Hence the aeroplane engines gives force to the plane constantly and the wind will lift the
plane upwards. Who is giving constant force for your plane?"
Smaran: "Wow! mom...that's so exciting..so if I attach a motor to my plane, will it fly forever?"
Neha:"Hmm...may be...why don’t you try it out for yourself and see if it works.."
Smaran: "Sure mom...I will try it now"
---------
Which parent's answers do you appreciate?? I wish every parent will do as Neha did! Why is
this conversation so special? What exactly was Neha doing right? Let’s list what was good
about the conversation:
A. She was asking questions about everything.
B. She was inviting her child to brainstorm along with her.
C. Asking her child to evaluate the ideas she brainstormed together.
D. Stimulating her child with open-ended questions.
E. Appreciating her child's answers and giving feedback even though they are wrong.
F. She was guiding her son in the discussion, but not leading the discussion.
G. And finally, she was suggesting ways to look for answers.
Hence 'asking appropriate questions to your child' is the only mantra to keep up your child's
curiosity levels.
What do we learn from the answers of Radha, Aishwarya and Sunitha? - Some DON'Ts!
- Don't reject your child’s questions

- Don't deflect their questions
- Don't give away answers as if they understand everything.
- Don't admonish them for their wrong answers.
Hence It's important to let children do most of the thinking, even if they pursue "wrong" answers.
You can guide them to helpful resources, and they can eventually find out what they want to
know. Meanwhile, they are learning important research skills as well.
Let us all together create - 'A Generation of thinkers!'

How To Nurture Your Child's Curiosity

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How to nurture your child's curiosity?

One of the research study of Maw & Maw, points that:

“Curiosity is demonstrated by an elementary school child when he:

Let’s take a look at a conversation between a parent and a child:

- Don't reject your child’s questions

Let us all together create - 'A Generation of thinkers!'

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