SEtalk: Why Children Ask Why

How many questions did you ask yesterday? I mean real questions, because you wanted to know something. If you're four years old, the answer is probably hundreds! I teach young children, so I hear them all day long. Six years ago, a little boy called Leo was in my class. One morning, he looked outside, and he had a question. Why is the sky blue? I explained it simply, but he just asked, why? I answered again, and he asked why again! After the fifth why, I said, because it just is! He stopped asking, and I felt terrible. So how many questions do children really ask? In 2007, a psychologist studied recordings of young children with their parents. They asked about seventy-six questions an hour! A study in 2009 went further, and it found something interesting. When children got a real answer, they usually seemed satisfied. When they didn't, they asked again or made up their own answer. So children who keep asking why aren't trying to annoy us. They really want to understand how the world works. So what happens to all those questions when we grow up? A researcher called Susan Engel visited classrooms, and she counted every question. Some classes asked just two to five questions in two hours. In some classes, not one question was asked, and nobody noticed. Maybe kids learn that answers matter more than questions. If nobody rewards questions, we simply stop asking them. After Leo, I changed one small thing, and it worked. Now, when I don't know the answer to a question, I say, great question, let's find out together! We've looked up spiders, volcanoes, and why cats purr. And last month, Leo came back to visit me! He's twelve now, and he wants to be a scientist! He still asks why, but now he finds the answers himself. So here's my challenge for you. When a child asks you why, don't stop them. Ask them, what do you think? And this week, ask one why question of your own. Thank you, and keep asking why!