Young scientists (First of two parts)

Babies and young children are naturally curious about the world around them. From the time they are little they are naming things, asking questions about how things work, or experimenting with cause and effect. It is easy to become exhausted (and perhaps even irritated) by the flood of questions and repetitive actions (like throwing or banging), but parents and teachers can take advantage of this natural curiosity to develop scientific thinking in their children.

What exactly do we mean by scientific thinking? When we talk about science we are not referring to a set of facts that have been discovered by someone else. When we talk about scientific thinking we are not talking about memorization and performing prescribed experiments. Scientific thinking is a process-a way of thinking about and understanding the world around us. It involves observing, making predictions about what might happen, testing those predictions, and making sense of what you have observed. Children must be able to observe phenomena in the natural world and understand it in a way that makes sense to them and would hold personal meaning.

While this may seem quite advanced for young children, it actually comes very naturally. Think about your own child, does she name the different things she sees? Does he classify people into “boy” and “girl”? Does she like to bang different objects to see what noise they make? With some guidance and the right questions from adults, these are teachable moments, fantastic opportunities to develop your child’s scientific mind.

Research has shown that children’s brains are pattern seekers and they come well equipped to observe and classify things that they see and hear. As they get older, they start to enjoy solving problems and begin to reason and employ logic. The development of the part of the brain that is involved in these tasks can be strengthened by giving the child opportunities to construct their own understanding and knowledge. With every experience, the child’s brain forms a new connection. Repeating these experiences makes these connections stronger and more efficient.

Parents, teachers and caregivers play a great role in furthering the development of the young child’s brain. The questions that they ask, the materials that they provide, and the guidance and exposure that they give the child while working with these materials can greatly influence the child’s development. In the coming weeks, we will be providing information and practical tips for what you can do to optimize the development of your child’s scientific mind. (Source: www.earlychildhood.com)