Do you want Young Children to stretch their thinking? You don’t need elaborate toys, tablets or endless worksheets. In fact, those items can impede deeper learning. You need something that cannot be purchased. You need an understanding of good questions.
Good questions make people think. Those are the questions that cannot be answered with a simple yes, no or one word answer. Good questions require us to take a moment, ponder the situation and consider our reply. You know what good questions are – they make you say, “Hmm – that’s a good question. I have to think about it.”
Though we recognize them when they are asked of us, we too often only ask simple, one-dimensional questions when we speak with children. If you are going to ask a question when speaking with your child and it starts with “What is..,” or “Which one….” please stop. “What” and “Which one” questions tend to require only a quick answer that doesn’t require much critical thinking.
I was working with two children who were up to their elbows in paint. Both Young Children painted what looked like blobs to me but I know that they are meaningful to the children. An adult came over to the table and said, “What is that?”
One child responded, “A car.”
The other child pointed to his painting and said, “My dog.”
I turned to the children and said, “Tell me about your painting.”
The first child who had initially simply said, “Car” now added, “It’s a fast race car that goes on a track like my cousin showed me.” We were able to have a conversation about race cars, her cousin and a new vocabulary word that I introduced – aerodynamic.
The second child who painted the dog said, “Mine is my dog. She has a big cone on her head.” We talked about when the dog got the cone from the veterinarian. I asked why the dog has the cone and how the cone helps the dog.
Fire young children’s brains, help them to learn the conventions of conversation and create critical thinkers throughout the day by asking:
- Why? It is their favorite question and should be ours, too. When young children make statements, I ask, “Why?” Why are you wearing that headband today? Why did you go to grandma’s house? Why do you want to use the Play Doh? When we ask why, not only do children have to consider their actions, they see us as curious. Adults who model curiosity help to promote wonder and curiosity in children.
- How? and How else…? Draw analysis out of the children by asking them to consider how things happen rather than telling them. Ask them how else something might be done or what else they could try. Analytical thinking will help them with so many school and life lessons as they continue to learn and grow.
- Tell me about… I want to have discussions so I have to encourage children to tell me about objects, experiences and events. “Tell me about…” encourages elaboration on a thought and descriptive language. “Tell me about…” includes:
- Tell me about your day.
- Tell me about your favorite part of the day.
- Tell me about your picture.
- Tell me about your favorite part of what you made.
- Tell me about your class.
- Tell me about a funny thing that happened.
- There are so very many “Tell me abouts...”
- Any open ended question … that requires more than one or two words to answer.
- Any question that does not have a right or wrong answer so children can bravely state their opinions and thoughts about their world. Not everything should be graded or feel like a quiz and certainly there is room for subjective thinking in conversation.
In today’s world, young children will need critical thinking skills to discern fact from fiction. They will need have an advantage if they have developed socialization skills and not just technology skills. They need us to help them to think more deeply so they can become the creators, innovators and great thinkers in a time when those skills may lack. Gone are the days of endless socialization outside until the street lights come on. We learned so much from our interactions out in the neighborhood. If we are intentional, we can help children to learn those skills from our good questions.
“Teach the Whole Preschooler: Strategies for Nurturing Developing Minds,” my soon-to-be-released book, is listed for pre-sale on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and WW Norton (publisher)
Be the first to get updates about the book’s release and stay connected – click HEREto join my mailing list. I promise not to crowd your inbox J
________________________________________________________________________
You can learn so much more from me online! “Helping Preschools Achieve with Cindy Terebush” – An Online Learning and Support Community for Early Childhood Professionals. Now with individual sessions for only $ 15 and staff bundles for groups of people. Go to Helping Preschools Achieve for more details.
And in person….Go to my full website for information about webinars, presentations and individual consulting for parents and educators -Helping Kids Achieve.
Copyright 2017 © Cindy Terebush
All Rights Reserved
This post first appeared on Helping Kids And Families Achieve With Cynthia Ter, please read the originial post: here
