Curiosity births cleverness.
It is the curious nature of children that opens them up to light bulb moments of creativity and innovation.
By asking so-called difficult questions out of curiosity, for instance, they rather give us the opportunity to engage them on diverse issues.
Their understanding is expanded and their thinking is inspired.
This results in clever insights that make jaws drop and leave people wondering where these geniuses dropped from.
Whilst modern school curriculums are useful in engaging children, the skills for thinking logically to make good decisions or solve problems can pass unnoticed.
It will take parents and other adults in the lives of these children to deliberately guide their development into both logical and creative thinkers.
A simple act such as consciously talking through decisions to be made serves as a good model for the children.
As they watch and listen, they learn that pondering about issues is a necessary part of life.
Good thinkers
Good thinkers, they say, ponder a lot. Whilst pondering is defined as a thoughtful and reflective process that often leads to in-depth understanding or insight, worrying on the other hand, is associated with anxiety and stress.
Worry is usually fixated on potential negative outcomes therefore clouding paths of resolution.
Parents must model reflective attitudes and not restlessness and anxiety.
This is how Albert Einstein describes his own pondering attitude: “if I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about the solution”.
It is so much fun to hear what children have to say when asked certain questions about life.
Do animals have their own specific language which they speak to each other? How do they know?
Where does the rain come from?
How should the sanitation issues be dealt with?
Why are some places cleaner than others?
What would be the most important issue if they had to lead the country as president?
Ask the child many ‘why’ questions.
This always stimulates their thinking cap.
Welcome their questions too by praising them when they ask.
Avoid dismissing them, ignoring them or skirting their questions.
Helpful
It is helpful to encourage them to think for themselves, especially when the answer is so obvious, by flipping the question and inviting their opinion first.
For older children, parents should not be in a hurry to define words and their meanings to them.
They should learn to seek the answers in dictionaries or lexicons.
Supplying them with the answers whenever they ask creates the impression that problems are things that other people must answer. In all its simplicity, children learn self-reliance this way.
Children aged between two and five years, should be allowed only an hour of screen time every day (if at all) according to World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations.
It is not for nothing that they add that this hour of screen time should be shared with an adult who will make the moment more meaningful by staying interactive.
The brain should be switched on when the screen is switched off by asking them questions about the content they watched.
By the age of five, children must start to learn how to put themselves in the shoes of others.
To view things from another’s perspective does not happen naturally.
We do this by asking them ‘how they will feel…’ questions.
How will you feel going to bed on an empty stomach?
How will you feel if you had no arms or legs?
Your child will certainly be on the road to being a good leader as a curious mind, heart and spirit is at the heart of great leadership.
The writer is a Child development expert/Fellow, Zero-To-Three Academy, USA.
E-mail: nanaesi.gaisie@wellchildhaven.com
