Children's Questions and Curiosities

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If we value children as thinkers, it is important to design the classroom culture as one in which children are encouraged to make their thinking visible and evident. The world of science and mathematics should be one that is inviting and accessible to all children. Traditionally, these disciplines have not always been connected to the real lives of children. In her book Talking Their Way into Science, Gallas (1995) tells us, “I haven’t met a child (or an adult) who was unable to think and talk like a scientist. I have met people who couldn’t use the appropriate terminology or factual references about a scientific phenomenon, but they were all in full possession of a natural ability to question, wonder, and theorize about every aspect of the natural and physical world” (p. 3). When children are encouraged to ask questions and feed their curiosities, they are given opportunities to construct meaning about their world.

“Almost all young children in almost all environments ‘do science’ most of the time; they experience the world around them and develop theories about how that world works” Conezio & French, 2002, p. 13.

Experiencing Newness

When children enter the classroom, they are met with newness in people, things, routines, and environment. Think about what children see when they enter your classroom. Do they see interesting things to explore? Are they allowed to touch them? Do you provide familiar and novel items to investigate? Can they reach the objects without disturbing other objects? How we fashion such an environment is critical to what will happen and unfold before our eyes.

If we want to encourage children in natural exploration, we must provide interesting things for them to explore. We must also model the joy of wondering, being curious, posing questions, and exploring. Our classrooms should have an assortment of familiar and unfamiliar items from nature. If your classroom has a collection of pinecones and seashells on a sensory table or in a touch center, children see that these are valuable parts of their classroom. They should be encouraged to contribute other natural items that are of interest to them. As children bring in natural items, allow them time for show and share, because the social contexts of these items are important. Perhaps an item is from a family outing or something discovered while taking a walk in the park. The item may even be a family treasure. Sharing these contexts tells children that their lives outside school are important and valued. Mathematical ideas of sorting, counting, measuring, and graphing also can be introduced as children observe the collections.

As children bring items in to school, sorting these items can be a worthwhile experience. Children can construct their own classification schemes with the shared items. For example, looking at an interesting collection of seashells, we can observe them with our senses and use rich language to describe what we see, feel, hear, and smell. Children’s descriptions can be recorded on an experience chart (see the figure above).