Learning to Question

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“Why is the sky blue?” “Who made the sky?” “How do birds fly?” Children ask questions constantly. And often they really do not want or need an answer; they simply are talking. Still, with all the questioning children do, one might think they need no help in learning to ask questions. Yet children, as adults, need to be able to sense a problem, and learn to ask and answer questions.

• Make sure children have the psychological safety to feel free to question. Think about classes you have taken. When you feel insecure or think your question would sound silly to others, you won’t ask it.
• Offer and provide knowledge for children to question. Sometimes you feel secure enough to ask a question but don’t know enough to be able to frame or articulate the question.
  • Provide reference books on the topics children are studying or interested in.
  • Seriously discuss topics with children. Research shows that teachers spend more time giving directions or correcting children than actually talking with them about what they are doing or trying to learn.
  • Give children the vocabulary they need to ask questions. If you are studying butterflies, make a word hanger or chart with the words chrysalis, cocoon, caterpillar, and butterfly; if they are studying plants, the hanger might contain the words leaf, bud, stem, sprout, seedling, and so on.
• Teach children to pose questions. You might ask 3-year-olds to think about what they want to ask the police officer when she visits. Four- and 5-year-olds can be asked to think about what they want to ask while on a field trip. List the questions on a chart. Then before going on the trip, cut the chart apart, and give each child, or teams of children, one of the questions. Read the question to them to refresh their memories. Then the children ask their questions on the trip. Take along pads of paper or clipboards so they can record the answers.