Comments Off on A Nobel Prize For Kids

Nobel Prize

I discovered this fantastic article today at NewScientist.com discussing the curiosity of a young child, and how Children are natural born scientists.   This may come across as somewhat obvious to those of you who are parents, as I’m sure you can recall the many many questions posed to you by your children.  Sometimes they come across as pointless questions, and sometimes by the 28th “why?” in a row, even as antagonizing.

Nevertheless, this questioning is at the core of a childs mind, and it is imperative that we cater to this curiosity to encourage our children to strive after those things that they are passionate about, and to help continuously feed them new knowledge.  At some point, they may not be able to retain information as well, so isn’t it a good idea to share as much information with them as they can take?

What you may sometimes not realize as a parent is that as children grow up, they begin to formulate their own opinions, theories, and proofs.  The scientific method is present in their very existance as a child.. if I cry will I get food?  If I misbehave, will I get attention?  How we respond to a childs actions and questions will determine how they formulate their “truths” in life.  Will they grow up to accept the popular opinion, or that something is impossible, because a President, Pastor, Employer, Peer, etc.. “told them so”, or will they grow up to challenge opinions, even their own, in an effort to seek out higher truths.

If your struggling with the barrage of questions from your child, instead of answering negatively, show them the power of wikipedia.com, and how they can research answers.  Encourage them to draw conclusions and see the differences between opinion and fact. You can even pretend not to know the answer, and have them help you find it, as this feeling of “special knowledge” can possibly even help them to better remember.

All opinions aside, a truth here, is that your child or student can now win prizes by simply asking the right questions.   New programs and websites are popping up everyday that encourage exploration in these new frontiers of learning.  If your child or student has asked you any “good” questions about molecules, have them visit  www.MoleClues.org  where they can win a prize.