How much I don't know
Why won't you answer my questions?
Why oh why oh why?
Because I don't know the answers, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!
from Songs To Grow On For Mother And Child, Woody Guthrie.
Having young children highlights for me just how much I don't know. The constant "why" questions make one's knowledge gaps uncomfortably clear.
Some things I know well enough. Examples might be "Why is it Tuesday?", "Why do we have teeth?" or "Why do I have to wash the germs off my hands?". Other things I know to a reasonable level - but nagging questions remain in my own mind after I've given the age-appropriate explanation that (sometimes!) satisfies the youngsters' curiousity. Examples of this category are more "Why are there germs?", "What is dirt made of?" or "Why is there the sun?".
Sometimes we do the "learning together" thing - "I'm not sure myself, let's look it up on the computer". However, this is mighty hard to do in the car, or during the frantic meal-preparation time of day. And sometimes they just want a quick answer, not necessarily a full-on exploration of all the ins and outs.
I think the main thing to do is to take the questions seriously, not to fob them off with "Because I say so". Discretion is required in terms of which questions need a full answer, and which ones can be answered via the express route. It's about fostering that curiousity and moulding it into the life-long love of learning that many of us wish for our children to have. It's about making them aware of how to get and evaluate information - from the computer, from books, from parents, from other adults and peers. It's also about children seeing that parents have a lot of valuable information and knowledge, but that they do not know it all either.
Why oh why oh why?
Because I don't know the answers, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!
from Songs To Grow On For Mother And Child, Woody Guthrie.
Having young children highlights for me just how much I don't know. The constant "why" questions make one's knowledge gaps uncomfortably clear.
Some things I know well enough. Examples might be "Why is it Tuesday?", "Why do we have teeth?" or "Why do I have to wash the germs off my hands?". Other things I know to a reasonable level - but nagging questions remain in my own mind after I've given the age-appropriate explanation that (sometimes!) satisfies the youngsters' curiousity. Examples of this category are more "Why are there germs?", "What is dirt made of?" or "Why is there the sun?".
Sometimes we do the "learning together" thing - "I'm not sure myself, let's look it up on the computer". However, this is mighty hard to do in the car, or during the frantic meal-preparation time of day. And sometimes they just want a quick answer, not necessarily a full-on exploration of all the ins and outs.
I think the main thing to do is to take the questions seriously, not to fob them off with "Because I say so". Discretion is required in terms of which questions need a full answer, and which ones can be answered via the express route. It's about fostering that curiousity and moulding it into the life-long love of learning that many of us wish for our children to have. It's about making them aware of how to get and evaluate information - from the computer, from books, from parents, from other adults and peers. It's also about children seeing that parents have a lot of valuable information and knowledge, but that they do not know it all either.
Labels: Suburban housewife, Thoughts
posted by Mary at 9:52 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home