Curiosity

There was no end to the kids' curiosity when I was a young mother. We wondered about the stars. We wondered about the cake batter and what each ingredient did. We wondered about the fire trucks. We wondered about certain periods of history. We wondered about what it would be like to live in the Bahamas or Alaska. The kids played dress-up. They acted out scenes from our history read-alouds. They played trucks and dolls. They asked questions (and cared about the answers).

With the younger kids, life was different. A lot of time was spent in doctors' offices and waiting rooms and doing therapy. Life was also different in that the older kids had movies and books and music that were for teenagers, not for little kids. Life was also different in that we'd gotten a usable computer. Curiosity and imagination were not nurtured in the youngest kids as it was in the older ones. And it shows in their attitude toward learning today, and it may affect them the rest of their lives.

A couple of years ago I ran across a book called Raising Curious Kids by Nancy Sokol Green. At the time I thought it looked fun, but it didn't contain anything I didn't already know how to do: questions to ask, goofy experiments to try, projects to experience. The subtitle is "Over 100 Simple Activities to Develop Your Child's Imagination." If there's one thing I could prescribe to make it easier to homeschool high-schoolers, this would be it: start 10-12 years ahead of time, stimulating curiosity and imagination and thinking-outside-the-box in your preschoolers.