Anil's Reflections: The joy of discovery

The world is a place filled with wonder and possibility. It is a place with all kinds of amazing, weird, quirky, natural and sometimes crazy things just waiting to be discovered. If children learn how to discover new things when they're young, they will grow up in a world with possibility and hope. They will grow up seeing the world as an adventurous place just waiting to be explored.

Children are naturally such curious creatures. They explore, question, and wonder, and by doing so, learn. From the moment of birth, likely even before, humans are drawn to new things. When we are curious about something new, we want to explore it. And while exploring we discover.

By turning the light switch on and off over and over again, the toddler is learning about cause and effect. By pouring water into a dozen different-shaped containers and on the floor and over clothes, the 4-year-old is learning pre-concepts of mass and volume. A child discovers the sweetness of chocolate, the bitterness of lemon, the heat of the radiator, and the cold of ice only by trying them out.

If a child stays curious, he will continue to explore and discover. The 5-year-old finds tadpoles in a tiny pool of mud on the playground. This discovery gives him pleasure. When he experiences the joy of discovery, he will want to repeat his exploration of the pond. [Pleasure leads to repetition.] Each day, he and his classmates return. The tadpoles grow legs. [Repetition leads to mastery.] The children learn that tadpoles become frogs — a concrete example of a complex biological process. Mastery — in this case, understanding that tadpoles become frogs — leads to confidence. Confidence increases a willingness to act on curiosity — to explore, discover, and learn. "Can we bring tadpoles into the class? How do other baby animals grow up? Why don’t dog babies lose their tails?" This positive cycle of learning is fueled by curiosity and the pleasure that comes from discovery and mastery.

What is most pleasurable about discovery and mastery is sharing it with someone else. ("Dad, come look! Tadpoles!") We are social creatures. The most positive reinforcement — the greatest reward and the greatest pleasure — comes from the adoring and admiring gaze, comments and support from someone we love and respect. Dad smiles, claps, and comments, " You are great. Look at all these tadpoles! You are our science expert!" This rewarding approval causes a surge of pleasure and pride that can sustain the child through new challenges and frustrations. Approval can generalize and help build confidence and self-esteem. So later in the day, when this boy is struggling with the introduction of simple math concepts, rather than eroding his esteem by thinking, "I’m stupid, I don’t understand," he can think, "I don’t get this, but I’m the one who knows about tadpoles."

Unfortunately for too many children, curiosity fades. And curiosity dimmed is a future denied. Our potential — emotional, social, and cognitive — is expressed through the quantity and quality of our experiences. And the less-curious child will make fewer new friends, join fewer social groups, read fewer books, and take fewer hikes. The less-curious child is harder to teach because he is harder to inspire, enthuse, and motivate.

There are three common ways adults constrain or even crush the enthusiastic exploration of the curious child:

Fear: Fear kills curiosity. When the child's world is chaotic or when he is afraid, he will not like novelty. He will seek the familiar, staying in his comfort zone, unwilling to leave and explore new things. Children impacted by war, natural disasters, family distress, or violence all have their curiosity crushed.

Disapproval: "Don’t touch. Don’t climb. Don’t yell. Don’t take that apart. Don’t get dirty. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t." Children sense and respond to our fears, biases, and attitudes. If we convey a sense of disgust at the mud on their shoes and the slime on their hands, their discovery of tadpoles will be diminished.

Absence: The presence of a caring, invested adult provides two things essential for optimal exploration: 1) a sense of safety from which to set out to discover new things and 2) the capacity to share the discovery and, thereby, get the pleasure and reinforcement from that discovery.

So how do we encourage curiosity and discovery of new things in our children:

   1. Expose them to as many new experiences as possible. The idea is to expose your child to as many opportunities as possible. Your child may discover a passion for something they hadn't considered before. Try activities in a variety of areas from nature to technology and theatrical to scientific. By exposing children to as many new experiences as possible allows them to explore a wide range of opportunities. It will develop in them a unique curiosity in the world around them. It teaches them an important skill too--to be open to discovering new things.

   2. Make as many books and other resource material available to children as possible. Sometimes kids simply haven't been exposed to new ideas, activities and opportunities, so it is hard for them to know what is even out there for them to discover. By taking kids to the library, subscribing to various magazines and keeping books and other reference and resource material on hand kids can open their imagination and develop a natural interest and ability in discovering new things. It's also a good idea to have writing and drawing material on hand so that kids can have a place to collect thoughts and images of their own.

   3. Show a genuine interest in what children care about. If you praise and acknowledge the interests of a child, you teach them that their opinions are valuable and worth the attention of other's. It allows them to be proud of the world in which they live. By showing a genuine interest in what children care about, you show them that discovering new things is worthwhile and fun.

   4. Share your interests with children. By sharing your interests with children it allows them to see the world through someone else's eyes. It encourages them to consider the world as you see it, which may inspire them to discover new things. It also allows them to understand that everyone has the ability to discover new things and that it is a natural way to experience the world.

   5. Above all be positive and open with children about the world around them. Show an ability to be interested in new things yourself and the children around you will adopt a similar attitude. And maybe the grin of delight that you see below on Nikhil's face may also become yours!

Here is my grandson Nikhil discovering the joys of just opening the the X box:

The joy of discovery