Thursday, September 23, 2010

q is for questioning

Questioning: Encourage your children to question why and to understand why things are as they are.


My first response to this is... do I have to encourage questions?

Because I don't think I've encouraged it much and I'm bombarded every day with hundreds - no - thousands of questions. And only one of my children talk so far.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate every question.

Really. I. Do.

But I don't know the answers to half the questions that are asked. Often I'm dumbfounded. I find that my answer (a lot) is "I don't know", or "that's a very good question" (which can buy a heap of thinking time).


I suppose whether we encourage it or not, there are lots of questions to get through, and I need to spend far more time researching a good enough answer. You know, one that is wise and all-knowing.

And I never want to be like that TV advert where the Dad tells his son that the Great Wall was built to stop all the rabbits...

Thank goodness for Google. My new best friend.

The A-Z of Parenting Tips were inspired by this article in the Courier Mail.

3 comments:

  1. Haha!! In our household we often reply to questions by the older boys, "look it up on google". No we are not being slack, but think there is an importance for them to learn ways to find their own answers, especially when it is for THEIR homework!!!! LOL!!

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  2. I love your A-Z of parenting posts :) . My children are always asking questions and I do the same as you with saying "that is a very good question" . One day we were in the car and K asked a question and I said that we would need to look up the answer when we got home and he replied, "just look it up on the iPhone Mum!" and that is what I did ;).

    I always encourage questions and seeking out the correct answers with the kids :) .

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  3. iPhones AND google are all our best friends really! How I love not needing to go to the library for that research. It's all here at our fingertips.

    And I like it that way. (Mind you, I also love the library visits too - just not for research. Blah, sounds too much like a school assignment.)

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Thank you for your thoughtful and positive words and taking the time to comment. Love Kymmie. xx