Naturally Curious Children
Posted on January 1, 2011 Comments (5)
I write this blog because when I was a kid I was curious and had parents who gave me enough interesting answers and interesting resources to build on that curiosity. And I am still curious today. I love learning. And I love to hear about kids learning.
The Big Girl has worked out evolution
…
“What would happen if there were no boys?” This is the question she came out with the other day.
“Well, there would be no babies.” I didn’t quite get the problem seeing we were feeding the rather prolific guinea pigs at the time and we’ve been talking about separating them.
“But what if there were no boys at all? So no-one could have babies?”
“Eventually, they would all die.”
“But there wouldn’t be any left!”
“No, they would die out.”
…
“How did humans start?”… a puzzled little crease in her forehead. “Because if there weren’t any around with the dinosaurs they must have started sometime. How could there be no humans and then they’re there? What was the Mummy?”
…
“Well, they weren’t sudden. You know how you are a little bit different to Mummy and Daddy? That’s how it happened. The babies were just a little bit different to their parents and over a really, really long time they became people.”
…
“But if there was only one it would die out.”
Well that came out of nowhere, did I miss half of this conversation?
“You know, the first person. It needs to have both a boy and a girl to have more people babies. So if there was only one it would die out.”
“Oh, from yesterday. Yes, you’re right. But people live in groups, so they’re all changing a tiny little bit at the same time.”
It is great to see developing minds at work. Exploring their natural curiosity. And taking in new information puzzling it out over time and then coming back to the ideas. This kind of curiosity is what drives learning and success.
Related: Playing Dice and Children’s Numeracy – Sarah, aged 3, Learns About Soap – Letting Children Learn, Hole in the Wall Computers – Illusion of Explanatory Depth
Categories: Science
Tags: animals, biology, evolution, kids, Science, science explained, scientific inquiry, sex
5 Responses to “Naturally Curious Children”
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January 6th, 2011 @ 1:01 am
curious children is natural. But you make your parents confusion. Hehe.
But I like your story this inspiring.
January 6th, 2011 @ 4:03 pm
This is really innovative and a new idea, I like this concept of protest and the way it is carried out in so light and cool manner. its really wonderful
January 19th, 2011 @ 2:31 pm
Cool post. My 7-year old is very curious about space and how things work. He will probably be a scientist or something of the sort. Thanks.
October 28th, 2011 @ 5:30 am
anytime a kid is asking why is an opportunity to teach and encourage them to keep being curious…
August 23rd, 2014 @ 9:04 pm
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