How schools can develop a curious mind in children

 We have all faced many questions from our kids like how was I born or how does the fan work or why we cannot fly while the birds can. With these very interesting questions my mind pondered…at what age the child starts questioning or being curious / inquisitive? I realized that babies are born curious with the inner drive to understand how the world around them works. Babies have a strong desire to explore and learn. The new born baby explores how to satiate his hunger and as he grows he explores sounds, his toys, his body, voices of adults, different objects, the sky and stars, and whatnot. Curiosity is the strong desire to know or learn something.

How do teachers and parents can help to create inquisitiveness in children

As teachers and parents, we give a spark to this innate desire to learn. The more curious the child is, the better he learns.

Learning should be a versatile one and not limited to classroom teaching

Should learning be limited to classroom instruction only or should we give opportunity to young and curious minds to learn through various activities, games and experiences inside and outside the classroom.

The beautiful lines for preschooler given below challenge us to think on our role as an educator-

The following steps taken by the educator may promote children to be better learners –

1. Facilitating Learning with Technology

2. Patient listening to the child.

3. Recognizing his achievements with verbal praises and other rewards.

4. Adding fun to learning by using a variety of teaching methodologies like Quiz, Panel Discussions/ Role Play or games, circle time, etc.

5. Teaching with enthusiasm, a smile and positive attitude.As teachers and parents, we give a spark to this innate desire to learn. The more curious the child is, the better he learns.

      To whom does the future belong 

  It has been rightly said that :-

‘The future belongs to the curious. The ones, who are not afraid to try it, explore it, poke at it, question it and turn it inside out.’

The internet we use, the designer clothes we wear, our multi-purpose smart phones, cars, planes, robots, rockets were all created by some curious minds. What would have been our lives if people were not curious or creative. We learn, grow and improve with curiosity.

    

          Learning should not be  limited to classroom 

Should learning be limited to classroom instruction only or should we give opportunity to young and curious minds to learn through various activities, games and experiences inside and outside the classroom 

The following steps taken by the educator may promote children to be better learners –

1. Facilitating Learning with Technology

2. Patient listening to the child.

3. Recognizing his achievements with verbal praises and other rewards.

4. Adding fun to learning by using a variety of teaching methodologies like Quiz, Panel Discussions/ Role Play or games, circle time, etc.

   Things to be kept as reminders 

1). Remembering that words are the tools of teachers and words have the power to hurt and to heal.

2). Catering to the different learning styles and learning pace.

3). Encouraging the children to ask questions and expressing their opinions and ideas.

4). Promoting critical thinking, creative thinking, problem solving, collaborative learning and team working skills.

5). Engaging the learner in the learning process

Our classroom structures and curriculum need change in this scenario of globalization and digital age. Class leaders need to be recognized in better ways for their hard work and commitment.

Schools are killing curiosity’: why we need to stop telling children to shut up and learn

It could be a scene in almost any school. Children, full of questions about things thagt interest them, are learning not to ask them at school. Against a background of tests and targets, unscripted queries go mainly unanswered and learning opportunities are lost

Reading, maths and behaviour were then checked in kindergarten (the first year of school), where they found that the most curious children performed best. In a finding critical to tackling the stubborn achievement gap between poorer and richer children, disadvantaged children had the strongest connection between curiosity and performance.

Further, the researchers found that when it came to good school performance, the ability to stay focused and, for example, not be distracted by a thunderstorm, was less important than curiosity – the questions children might have about that storm

                                  How to build curious mInd in children

Curiosity, according to Ian Leslie, is a combination of intelligence, persistence, and hunger for novelty, all wrapped up in one. It is what psychologists might call a trait cluster. Leslie, in his new book

The more curious a child is, the more he learns. Nurturing your child’s curiosity is one of the most important ways you can help her become a lifelong learner

Parents and caregivers don’t have to “make” their children curious or “push” their children to learn. In fact, research shows that it is a child’s internal desire to learn (their curiosity), not external pressure, that motivates him to seek out new experiences and leads to greater success in school over the long ter

Curiosity is something all babies are born with. They come into the world with a drive to understand how the world works:

*A newborn follows sounds, faces and interesting objects with her eyes.

* An 8-month-old shakes a rattle and then puts it into his mouth to see what this object can do.

*A toddler takes a stool to reach the countertop where the phone is—a “toy” she loves to play with.

*A 2-year-old pretends she is the garbage collector and puts all her stuffed animals into the laundry basket “garbage truck” to figure out what it feels like to be in the other person’s shoes

Hence curious minds in children always exist, how to develop this mind depends on schools, teachers and parents.