Remember the old saying, “curiosity killed the cat”? No? Do you remember childproofing your home? You were trying to limit curiosity without killing it, right? The curiosity, not the kid. Kids are born curious, and they stay that way, at least until they get to school. Our job is to keep that curiosity alive in our kids.
But it’s not easy. When your child’s “why” questions become tiresome, ask yourself “why”. Is it because you’ve been asked too many “why” questions you can’t answer? The same goes for “how” questions. Curiosity about “how” their world works is the pilot light we never want to go out.
You may have ideas about what your child needs to learn and do. And school is the ultimate in determining what one should learn and do. But remember this. The child who remains curious and passionate is unstoppable.
Remember the Magic Formula for Motivation?
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Motivation = (I want) x (I can) |
If the (I want) turns into ‘they want’, you’re dead in the water, because then you are multiplying by zero.
That’s the ‘why’. Now here’s the ‘how’. We want their curiosity to drive their inquiry. But that inquiry need not reach a dead end with your answer to their ‘why’ questions. You can answer in a way that enhances their curiosity. For instance,
“Let’s figure out how to find that answer.”
“How would you go about getting that answer?”
“That’s a great idea. How would you make that … ?”
Just like we want to ‘keep the conflict in the kid’; we also want to keep the curiosity in the kid.
