People of the Apple: Instilling Curiosity in Our Children

     Everyone is familiar with the story of Isaac Newton and the discovery of gravity.  Whether or not an apple fell on his head giving him this revelation, the fact that he had a naturally curious mind is undeniable.  Any inventor, great scientist, successful engineer, outstanding playwright, and so on, must have a sense of curiosity.  It's the most natural mode of true learning.
    When our children are sat down and told what they must learn their retention is very low, unless they happen to be extremely interested in the subject matter.  However, when their curiosity is piqued, and they initiate the learning session, they remember most of what they learn.  Grab these opportunities.   Create these opportunities.
     In our over scheduled lives it can be difficult to stop and research a bug your 7 year old brings to you.  Maybe that's a sign of a problem. ( I am speaking to myself as well here.) Valuing learning for a lifetime is not just emphasizing good books, it's encouraging curiosity.  If your schedule is too full, make it a point to drop something next season, quarter, or semester.
      Have patience with your curious children so that you won't squelch their curiosity.  "Why does it work that way?"  "Where does that come from?"  "How come that math equation works?" One of my children in particular has an extremely curious mind.  He has driven me crazy with the why's sometimes.  I have not always been the patient mom with him.  Many times I just wanted to move on with the lesson.  However, the result of that curiosity is that he is an excellent problem solver and can fix just about anything.  Recently he was working at a friend's house cleaning her gutters.  She had a problem with one area not draining well.  He studied the situation and gave her his solution to her problem. 
     I believe that all children begin with a certain level of God given curiosity.  If we have patience and answer those questions, they will really learn and they will be encouraged to ask more.  Bombardment with media, movies, television, computer, video games, keep our children from engaging their minds.  Removing, or at least limiting these, and encouraging free play will give our kids time to think.  On the way home from church last night one of my four sons said, "May I play with your iphone?"  He told me he was bored because it was too dark to read his book.  Letting him play on the iphone wouldn't have been wrong, but I didn't.  Instead I challenged him," You don't have to be entertained all of the time, why don't you talk with us or just think."
    If we are used to relying on media or scheduled activities to keep our kids busy, the change to becoming "people of the apple" may be bumpy at times.  However, the result is well worth it.  Our children will be able to fully develop their God given talents, not distracted by the futility of this world. What will you do the next time your child asks, "Why mommy?"