As mentioned earlier, it’s important to encourage your child to ask questions. It’s also important to ask your child questions that will get him talking about his ideas and to listen carefully to his answers. Keep in mind that children’s experiences help them form their ideas—ideas that may, or may not, match current scientific interpretations. Help your child to look at things in new ways. For instance, in regard to the blizzard, you could ask, “Have you ever seen it snow sideways?” or “What do you think causes it to snow sideways sometimes?”
Such conversation can be an important form of inquiry or learning. Encourage your child by letting him know that it’s OK to make mistakes or admit he doesn’t know something. Rather than saying, “No, that’s wrong,” when he gives an incorrect explanation, give him accurate information or help him to find it. Going back to the blizzard, you could ask your child, “How could you check your definition?” “How does the dictionary’s definition of “blizzard” fit with what you said about snow moving sideways?”
Knowing that you are willing to listen will help your child to gain confidence in his own thinking and encourage his interest in science. And listening to what he says will help him to figure out what he knows and how he knows it.
Parenting viewpoints from parents in the trenches, because parenting doesn’t come with a manual. In addition to