“Don’t just teach your children to read, teach them to question what they read, teach them to question everything”
Don’t just teach your children to read, teach them to question Meaning
The phrase “Don’t just teach your children to read, teach them to question” emphasizes the importance of nurturing critical thinking and curiosity in children. It suggests that beyond teaching basic literacy skills, parents and educators should encourage children to ask questions, explore, and think independently.
By fostering a questioning mindset, children develop the ability to analyze, reason, and seek knowledge, enabling them to become lifelong learners and make informed decisions. Encouraging questioning also empowers children to challenge assumptions, explore diverse perspectives, and engage actively in their own learning and personal growth.
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Encouraging question seeking
I am sure we have gone through those silly, simple school days and wondered with a lot of curiosity until someone came to us and sternly warned us against asking ‘STUPID’ questions. And I guess that was when we realized that having so many questions was WRONG.
Well, there might be a lot of reasons as to why they would have said that, but then again something very important for us was being lost or being questioned from within was being lost.
- Is it so wrong to ask questions
- Should I know all the answers so that I will be considered smart?
- Is it so wrong to be actually a little stupid?
Finding opportunities to support and foster curiosity
Well, those were innocent questions but today I think somewhere that the loss of growing up is losing that curiosity and the child like innocence about our lives. Today we don’t seem to have too many questions like
- Why does the society try to interfere in every little thing we do?
- If someone is rude to us or socially awkward, do I have to judge them or be curious about them?
- If something goes wrong with our lives – what does it mean? Does it mean that I am stupid or does it mean that I have to go an alternate way?
- Why should I be so afraid of taking a wrong decision in life?
I believe it is all in those questions. “Seek and you shall receive” say the religious texts, but none of them really tell you what you have to seek, what you want in life and why you want the same. All of them preach to you to get somewhere, they tell you a moral code of conduct but they don’t let you question any of these and how they make an impact in your lives.
Continuous improvement through questioning
A part of us dies when we stop asking these questions. If there is any growth, the growth is in the shift in the quality of questions. The time we move from asking WHY ME? to WHAT CAN I DO BETTER? Or HOW CAN I USE THIS TO MY ADVANTAGE is real maturity and that is going to take you or me somewhere. We can’t afford to wallow about the wrong things that are happening in our lives, we can’t afford to ask the bad questions. The reason is pretty simple, if we ask bad questions, there is no way on earth that we are going to ger a good or a convincing answer.
More than merely asking questions, being a little conscious about the type of answers we are going to get when we ask those questions matter a lot. Ask those questions which can be beneficial to you than responding to the way things happen in life. It is your life and you are in charge of your life, no one else has a say in that.
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Totally with you Vinay
Thank you Lata.. Indeed, I think curiosity is one of the most important traits a person can have and for the child it is life blood.
Well said Vinay. Though one may not always know the right answers, but one can try to find out by asking the right questions. And yes I second Ravish that we should not curb the curiosity of children.
True Somali, it indeed is a very beautiful gift to maintain that curiousity all through our lives. It serves us way better than judgements and mere acceptance of standards or thoughts pushed by others into our lives. The more we are able to maintain the essense of individuality, curiosity certainly helps it blossom.
We don’t need to teach children to question. Children are by birth curious and ask questions. In fact, they are discouraged when ask questions. We must not curb the curiosity of children. :)
He he, agreed mate. I guess somewhere knowingly or unknowingly a child who questions too much is usually snubbed and avoided and most times even scolded for the same and he is expected to maintain his curiousity. If I didn’t know any better, I guess it is a self defeating cycle!
Before I could teach My Lil Ishaan, to ask questions, he has started questioning on every curious items that comes his way.
Excellent post Vinay. Actually research says, if we teach students they may learn just to pass in exams but it may of no use for their life whereas if we make them experience the education it might help us. And I feel that is real education.
Thanks you Gowtham. I completely agree to the research and its outcome. We have all been bullied by the examination scene atleast at some point in our lives. And to be very honest, although it has helped, its outcome has been very limited, much less than what it is being made of. Life skills are a lot different than this.
Very well said. We get degree but not education. We get great marks, but we are unable to think. This may not be true for all but definitely for majority of us. No wonder we score 100% in literature. I learnt in Canada to become a doctor one had to demonstrate emotional maturity.
Thank you Abhijit. Unfortunately enough education has been highly overrated in the form of marks and accolades and highly underrated in the form a life defining aspect. The more we succumb to these lower standards, the more mechanical life gets and it really goes nowhere from there. Just like a blind man leading another.