Don’t use our commonplace habits to stifle children’s strong curiosity for knowledge.

I took little D to play in an amusement park near my home on the weekend, and saw a mixed-race Chinese girl, about 4 years old, sitting next to a Chinese elder, her grandmother. As soon as Little D entered the playground, he ran directly in the direction of the girl and followed her. At this time, a baby about 8 months old came, crawling around us, sitting up from time to time and minding his own business, clapping his hands happily. Both girls were particularly interested in this little baby. Little D would point at her from time to time and say to me, Baby, Baby! At this time, the girl ran to her grandma and asked in Chinese why the baby was always there. Are you drooling? The grandma didn\’t know if she thought no one could understand Chinese, so she said to the girl very loudly, \”What does this have to do with you? Don\’t mind other people\’s business. Grandma never cares about other people\’s business.\” I was a big kid at that time. I was so shocked that I couldn\’t let go of this incident in the past few days. The girl\’s disappointed expression after being criticized repeatedly appeared in my mind. Because of this, it reminds me of almost the same thing that happened last winter. At that time, little D was teething and drooling every day. One day, Aida, a 6-and-a-half-year-old girl from our neighbor\’s house, met little D in the corridor. After looking at her for a long time, she asked her mother the same question, why is she drooling all the time? Her mother told her that because little D was teething, he would drool a lot when teething came in. The same thing happened to you when you were a child. After hearing this, the little girl thought for a moment and continued to ask, why does she drool when she has teeth? Her mother continued to answer, \”Honey, this is a really good question, but I don\’t know the answer. Let\’s write it down and look up the information together.\” I remember that a week later, I met Aida again in the corridor. She ran over and talked to her very excitedly. I said, it turns out that everyone has a factory in their mouths that produces saliva. If our mouths feel uncomfortable, the factory will produce more saliva in the hope of making our mouths feel better. But babies\’ mouths are too small, and when there is too much saliva, it will overflow, so they drool. Look, how cool this is! To be honest, I didn\’t pay much attention to this matter at the time, but it wasn\’t until I encountered the amusement park at the weekend that I recalled that Aida raised her head and explained to me seriously, with excitement and a sense of accomplishment in her tone. I think what shines behind Aida’s shining eyes is her strong curiosity and desire for knowledge, which are innate to every child and are also the most precious. Curiosity is so important, but it is also so fragile and may be killed by us inadvertently. For the same two 2-year-old children, one says \”The leaves are green\”; the other asks \”Why are the leaves green?\”, the first child will definitely receive more praise. We are now so eager for our children to know the answers that we ignore the value of asking questions. Nobel laureate Dr. Lee Tsung-dao\’s motto for studying is: To learn, you need to learn \”asking\”, only \”answering\” is not learning. The \”why\” of children\’s time is the soil for the germination of their thinking, the first step for them to enter the palace of science, and the origin of all children\’s interests. It is the infinite motivation for children to explore knowledge. Parents must care about their children\’s questions, and children will ask more questions. a goodQuestions are sometimes more valuable than understanding an answer. When a child can ask questions, he is using his brain. Being able to ask questions is an active learning process. It is said that a child will ask 400,000 questions before the age of 4, and how you respond to your child\’s questions will have a profound impact on the child. No matter what strange or wild questions the child asks, we should listen carefully and then encourage, \”This is really an interesting question\”; \”This is really a good question, my mother has never thought of it.\” Questions we know , you can tell your child the answer briefly, but remember to say to your child, \”This is all mom knows. Maybe there are more answers, and we can find out together.\” In doing so, we not only encourage the child\’s enthusiasm for further exploration , and more importantly, let them understand that authority can also be challenged, and the answer is not always unique or immutable. For questions we don’t know, don’t deny them casually and say there’s nothing to ask. Just because we don\’t know about a problem doesn\’t mean it\’s not a good problem. You can honestly tell your children, \”Mom doesn\’t know either, let\’s go find the answer together.\” In doing so, we not only encourage children\’s enthusiasm for asking questions, but more importantly, let them understand that it is not shameful to admit that they don\’t know, and they can learn through learning. It can be compensated. Yesterday I met Aida\’s mother and specifically asked about this incident that happened last year. Her mother tried hard to recall it and told me that she took Aida to the library with her and encouraged Aida to ask the administrator for help with her questions. See if there are any books that can answer the question. Later, the administrator recommended her the book \”Human Encyclopedia\”, and she read the relevant content to Aida. This is true for many American parents around me. They also want their children to know a lot of knowledge, and they also spend a lot of time teaching. But what they teach is not \”answers\” but \”methods\”, how to find solutions to children\’s problems. I often see in bookstores, parents with children under 2 years old looking for various picture books on a certain theme; I often see in libraries, many 4 to 5-year-old children looking for books by themselves, and then feel very proud. I would often tell me, \”I\’m doing research.\” I would often be at the zoo and hear the children around me exclaim, \”Mom, that\’s right, seals really have hands!\” \”Teaching a man to fish is worse than teaching him to fish.\” Don\’t rush to tell your children the correct answer, but guide them to discover the answer themselves from books and practice. The purpose of education should not be to turn children into passive answer copy machines, but to tap and guide children\’s instinct of curiosity and exploration, making it a habit and a lifelong skill. I remember that when we were young and asked our teachers and parents questions, they would often say, why are there so many? Don’t study hard and think about these things! Later, slowly, we stopped asking questions. Later, we were really not curious anymore. When faced with things I don’t understand, I no longer want to understand them and feel that they have nothing to do with me; when faced with things I am interested in, I no longer want to go all out and feel that spending too much energy is meaningless; when faced with life and work, I lose enthusiasm and feel that That isSo the same thing; we have formed solid judgments and are no longer willing to accept new things with an open mind. Many times, when I look at Little D, I will sincerely sigh. Her happiness is so simple. She can be happy for a long time just by picking up leaves. Her point of observation is so different. Why didn’t I see a puddle of water on the ground with a fallen leaf in it? Turning in circles; her brain circuit is so strange, how come there are always so many messy questions. But I have to say that her life is so interesting, with a constant stream of little surprises every day. I have to say that sometimes her observations and discoveries can\’t help but touch me. Oh, why? Yes, why didn\’t I notice it before? Perhaps, one day, they will grow up and become as accustomed to their surroundings as we are. But at least for now, let us take good care of their thirst for knowledge and curiosity, and let their eyes looking at the world always shine. Treat each of their questions gently, teach them how to find answers on their own, and give them a pair of eyes to discover the beauty in life. We cannot accompany them for a lifetime, but these things will definitely become one of their most precious assets in their future lives. They will have a lifetime to learn the right answers, and now let their \”why\” flourish! Don\’t use our commonplaces to stifle their strong thirst for knowledge!