In the next few issues of our newsletter, I am going to give you some practical suggestions on how you can help your child become a more independent learner. I am going to focus on the 7C’s: curiosity, confidence, collaboration, communication, creativity, commitment, and craftsmanship.
These are the qualities suggested in ‘Educating Ruby: What Our Children Really Need to Learn’. The first quality is curiosity. Curiosity is at the heart of all learning. Being curious involves noticing things and asking questions.
Young children have curiosity in great abundance, constantly pestering those around them with questions. Here are some things you and your child might like to try if your curiosity needs a boost.
1. Stop answering your children’s questions. Apart from things which might pose risk (‘Is it safe to cross the road now, mum?’) try not to provide answers but instead respond to your child’s questions with phrases like: ‘What do you think?’ or ‘That’s a great question; how could we find out more?’
2. Try new things together. Simple things like going to the library to get new books/DVDs or cooking a new recipe together will create natural situations in which questions can bubble up. You can be more adventurous: visiting new places – or safer: learning a new game at home, for example.
3. Replace ‘Not now’ with ‘Why don’t we’. It’s so easy for us as adults to squash our children’s enthusiasm. We have things to do and it can conflict with our family’s expressions of curiosity. Give yourself permission to take some time to be curious. Follow your child’s lead and explore something that interests them. You might find you enjoy it more than you expect.
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