How do I get my kid to fall in love with critical thinking? How do I spark an interest in big questions? How do I help them become the innovative, creative, inspiring mind I know they can be?
Here’s a little good news, just in time for Valentine’s Day: your little thinker is already in love with all of these things. Maybe it gets lost in the shuffle of everyday life, in among the homework and lessons and play dates, covered up by meals on the go, and bedtime rituals, but it’s there, and it’s big. Even before they learned to speak, your child was already thinking these big thoughts, wondering about everything around them, poised and ready to launch into “Why” as soon as they found the words. One could say that growing up is really just a long process of trying to answer these big questions.
Children love big questions. They love asking them, they love discussing them, they love revisiting them over and over, and they love using big questions to connect with the big people in their lives. This might be one of the most powerful and long-standing loves of their lives.
We love that kids love big questions. It’s why we do what we do. It’s why, this week, in honour of Valentine’s Day, we’ve featured a lesson plan that has a look at love and its role in the good life. It’s why we’ve chosen as our Famous Brain of the Week a thinker who thought a lot about love. It’s why we’ve got a contest going that aims to bring 100,000 learners into conversations about big questions. It’s pretty much what drives all of our projects and initiatives.
You know what else we love? We love that there are parents and teachers out there who go out of their way to nurture a child’s love of big questions- parents and teachers like you! A big, heartfelt thank you for keeping the conversation going, and for taking the thoughts and ideas of little thinkers seriously.
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!