We have all faced many questions from our kids like how I was 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 orbeing curious / inquisitive? I realized that babies are borncurious with the inner drive to understand how the world around them works.Babies have a strong desire to explore& learn. The new born babyexplores how to quench his hunger & as grows he explores sounds,his toys,his body, voices of adults, different objects, sky & stars&what not. Curiosity is the strong desire to know or learn something.
As teachers & parents, we give spark to this innate desire to learn. The more curious the child is, the better he learns.
It is very rightly said.
“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 & improve with curiosity.
Should learning be limited to only class room instructions or should wegive opportunity to Young & curious minds to learn through various activities, games& experiences inside & outside the classrooms.
The beautiful lines for preschooler given below challenges us to think on our role as an educator.
The following steps taken by educator may promote children to be better
Learners..
- Facilitating Learning with Technology
- Patient listening to the child.
- Recognizing his achievements with verbal praises & other rewards.
- Adding fun to learning by using variety of teaching methodologies like Quiz, Panel Discussions/ Role plays or games/circle time etc.
5.Teaching with enthusiasm, smile& positive attitude.
6.Remembering that words are the tools of teachers & words have the
power to hurt &to heal.
7.Catering to the Different learning styles& learning pace.
8.Encouraging the children to ask questions & expressingtheir
opinions& ideas.
9.Promoting critical thinking, creative thinking,Problem Solving &
Collaborative Learning& team working skills.
10.Engaging learner in the learning process.
- Creating safe, secure & supportive class-room where student feels
confident to raise his doubts.
12.Respecting uniqueness of children.
13.Focusing on the strengths in the child.
14.Sharing own enthusiasm for learning.
- Letting children know that beyond the class-room also they can learn.
16.One size fits all should change in our education system.
Our Classroom structures &curriculum need change in this scenario of globalization& digital age.Class leaders need to be recognized in better ways for their hard work & commitment
Meenu Bhargava
Counseling Psychologist