Curiosity Is Better Than Answers

giving your kids the gift of "I don't know"

“Why are there so many craters on the moon but not on earth?” “How is plastic made?” “What is the last number, the one right before infinity?” Groan. Kid questions can drive you nuts, right? You’re just trying to run errands; you didn’t sign up for pop quizzes from the backseat.

When your kid asks you questions you can’t answer—even if it’s 2nd grade level stuff that you should probably know 😅—don’t let yourself feel guilty that you dared to become a parent before getting your Master’s degree in every possible field of knowledge. (Even highly educated parents would admit to feeling clueless all the time, too.)

What if giving our kids answers isn’t the best thing we can do for their little brains and futures? They’ll probably forget what we said, anyway. What’s better is showing our kids how to find good answers for themselves and helping them figure out why it matters.

That’s the key. You probably don’t know much about craters because craters don’t really matter to you and what you’re trying to accomplish with your short life. It’s a very good thing that some people know all about craters—and maybe your child is one of those people who does need to know about them—but your ignorance isn’t an actual problem. If you were a prideful know-it-all…well, that would be a problem.

A big part of our job is to cultivate lifelong learners who love well. So when our kids ask us about facts, they will probably benefit more from us saying “I dunno, but let’s see what the library has on this topic” or “this YouTube video looks legit” than “Earth is equipped with erosion, tectonics, and volcanism, which break down craters quickly.” We are stoking fires of curiosity, not extinguishing them with our impressive storehouses of knowledge.

Do you know what your kids will remember more than facts? Awe.

Tomorrow we’ll be sharing ideas for how to have a simple At-Home Science Camp, and you might be disappointed to see that none of the science stuff is explained 😉 It’s great to teach our kids about chemical reactions and scientific terms, but maybe what they need most is for you to say “Wow!” and to be amazed alongside them.

Modeling childlike wonder is a huge gift to your kids; may we all never outgrow awe.

I hope that encourages you.

Warmly,

Hope from Family Scripts