6 Ways to Foster a Love for Learning in Young Children

Did you know that children’s brains develop rapidly from birth to 8 years. Infact, by 6 years of age, a child’s brain is almost fully grown. What does this mean?

This means that early childhood education has a profound impact on future academic success. So, whatever parents, teachers and other caregivers do with a young child, is extremely important. Experiences for children in these years must comprise of a variety of activities and skills. And the most important skill we can help our children develop is to enjoy the process of learning and growth. Simply put, we can help children develop a love for learning.

Here are a few tips to help-

Give Choices

One of the best ways to find out what your child is interested in, is to let him/her show you! Give your child choices each day, to understand what he/she likes. Ensure that the daily routine has optional activities, which your child can pick from. This makes a child feel in-charge and look forward to learning.

Provide Plenty of Books

It’s no secret that books are a treasure trunk of learning. Provide your children with access to plenty of books. Although, they may not be able to read yet, flipping through the pages, talking about the pictures is an invaluable learning experience. This helps children fall in love with books, and makes them readers for life.

Ask Questions and Encourage Questioning

Young children are always asking questions and sometimes it can be frustrating. However, it is important to encourage your child to ask questions and remember that it is his/her way of learning about the world. Additionally, you can also ask him/her questions that are open ended* and promote fun conversation.

Share Your Interests

Children will listen to what you say, but they will also mimic what you do. Share your interests with your child, and allow him/her to see you doing things you enjoy. Explain in simple terms what it is you enjoy and why you enjoy it. Although they may not understand the topic, they will see happiness on your face and associate it with interest, and they will realize that learning is a lifelong and fun process.

Encourage Creativity Without Pressure

Allow your child room to explore and create by himself/herself, while providing safe limits and boundaries for it. Encourage your children to do things on their own, without giving too many instructions. Allow them to make mistakes. They will learn how things work and will also gain a sense of independence. Later, they will associate these feelings with learning. They will know that learning empowers.

Make Learning Fun and Relevant

Use their toys, or other objects they like, as tools during learning. This will show them that not only does learning occur in the real world, but also, that it’s not boring. Play games and do activities with children before you make them do a written assignment. Talk to them about their play, ask them what they did, why they did it and how they felt.

In short, focus on what your child is doing, rather than on how well its being done. Give choices, model learning behavior, allow for creative expression and fun. There is no limit to exploration and learning when early childhood education is combined with a love for learning.

*Open ended questions* are questions that stimulate thinking. They include asking about opinions, possibilities and imagination. How was your day ? is NOT an open ended questions. What if you became your teacher and she became your student, is an open ended question.

References:

McCoy, D.C., Yoshikawa, H., Ziol-Guest, K.M., Duncan, G., Schindler, H., Magnuson, K., Yang, R., Koepp, A., & Shinkoff, J. (2017). Impacts of early childhood education on medium and long-term educational outcomes. Educational researcher. 46(8), 474-487.

OECD (2016), “What are the benefits from early childhood education?”, Education Indicators in Focus, No. 42, OECD Publishing, Paris

Wigfield, A., Gladstone, J., & Turci, L. (2016). Beyond Cognition: Reading Motivation and Reading Comprehension. Child development perspectives, 10(3), 190–195. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12184