Imagine with me that you wake up from your sleep to find yourselves on a new planet, with strange-looking creatures, and things around you that you see for the first time.
You will be surprised and amazed, and you may be afraid.
This is how a child feels when he explores the world around him; Like the traveler who visits a strange and new country, and looks at the people with curiosity, what they do, and contemplates their fashions and food, or the artist who draws a rose or a tree that anyone might see as something ordinary, but the artist looks at it with an eye of surprise and amazement, and so does the child; He views the world with the eyes of a fascinated person, like a traveler and an artist.
He sees the button of the shirt in its place on the shirt and is surprised and wonders what would happen if he pulled it forcefully or covered it with chocolate sauce or hit it with a fork. And this pen, oh, it is magical and wondrous. It draws colored lines when we move it over any surface. What would happen if we moved it over the wall or over the sofa? Or above the cheek or nose?!
All great inventions and works of art were made by people who looked at things around them with the curiosity of a child, and the curiosity of a child is a challenge to his family. Because it is difficult to tolerate his behavior and answer his many questions.
But, is curiosity important?
American neuroscientist and education expert Judy Willis found in her recent research that curiosity improves the learning process. Because whenever the brain explores and succeeds in knowledge, it rewards itself with a dose of dopamine, which stimulates happiness.
I also discovered that the amount of dopamine increases the more closely the discovery matches the truth; If Al-Kafl guesses and guesses correctly, he feels very happy. This feeling of happiness caused by dopamine appeals to the child and he wants to repeat it, so the more we as educators increase the things surrounding the child that he can explore and know; His love for exploration and learning increased. He becomes addicted to this positive feeling, and turns - as Judy Willis said - into an education addict.
Here I will mention to you some of the benefits of stimulating a child’s curiosity:
· Curiosity drives learning.
· Curiosity makes the child feel psychologically peaceful, not afraid to express his opinion, and not afraid of the unknown.
· Curiosity stimulates persistence and scientific thinking.
· Curiosity versus boredom; The child is busy searching.
· Curiosity develops confidence in one’s abilities.
In short, we can say: A curious child is a happy child.
Finally, I present to you some ideas that develop curiosity in your children:
· Imagination Box: (It is a box in which you put questions that aroused your children’s curiosity, and for which you have not yet been able to find answers, and you use these questions to find new books to read to your children).
· Reading stories on new and strange topics that arouse the child’s curiosity.
· Linking what we read in the stories to the child’s daily life to understand the world around him.
· Reading stories from folklore and stories told by ancestors.
· Discuss the story with the child during and after reading, according to his age. You can use the educator’s tone guide in post-reading discussions.
