My Curious Child
Balancing Your Child’s Natural Curiosity and Teaching Self- Control
Children are born with an innate curiosity. The world is one enormous science experiment and children are always working to figure out how the everything around them works. As infants, they mouth everything and the adults in their lives are diligent to make sure they are safe. We keep sharp or poisonous objects out of their reach. We make sure friends and families possessions do not get into our little one's hands. Soon enough they are mobile crawling, toddling and eventually walking. With access to technology the world available to explore has now grown exponentially. There is so much more to be curious about and it is also the perfect time to begin teaching your child self-regulation skills.
Throughout my career in the field of early education and as a parent, preserving a child’s natural curiosity has always been a goal. Finding the balance between letting my child explore the world and learn their limits and helping them develop self-regulation skills is a challenge. Research in the field of brain development has shown the importance of adults helping children develop self- control and their ability to learn and problem solve later in life. Without the ability to set priorities and resist impulsive actions children will have difficulty learning and making healthy choices later in life.
While wanting to learn about the parts of a flower is fascinating, children need to learn that picking the flowers out of the neighbors garden or any public place is not the appropriate way to sate their curiosity. Learning the properties of water by pouring and using a funnel is fascinating, empty so much water over the side of the tub that it causes damage to the floor is not appropriate. These examples demonstrate ways that we can help our young children learn self-regulation skills. While they may be curious and supporting that curiosity is important so is facilitating the learning of impulse control and appropriate social behavior.
Often I hear parents excuse behavior if it does not do what they deem “real” damage. The unfortunate consequence of this is the missed opportunities to help children develop these very important skills. So the next time your child wants to pick apart a flower from the neighbors garden explain why it is not an appropriate choice but picking one from the family garden or buying one from a store would be a better option. Your child has the opportunity to learn patience and delayed gratification. Then let your budding horticulturist have a wonderful time taking apart the flower as you describe all the parts using their scientific names!
Sitting in the tub or outside with some basin of water will provide the same opportunity for your child to learn how liquids take on the shape of their container, what objects will float or sink when placed in water and just how much fun it is to splash without cause damage to your home. Let your future water scientist get soaked!
Finding the balance while parenting is always the challenge but nurturing curiosity and teaching self-regulation are of equal value.
Copyright 2018 © Michele Fortier
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