Curiosity and certainty cannot coexist

Laurence Heller says that “curiosity and judgement cannot coexist”. Certainty can’t exist with curiosity either, and this is HUGE when we think about children. Kids are little organisms FILLED with curiosity and almost no judgement (in every sense of the word!). 

Curiosity is what makes them want to see how things work. It’s what makes them want to eat non-edibles and throw breakables. It’s what makes them look at you over and over while they throw their peas on the floor. They are silently saying, “I wonder what will happen this time?” as you shake your head.

All that curiosity makes us adults a little nutty at times.

Number one because it means a lot of “why, why why?”

But also because we already know what happens when you throw something breakable. We already know what happens when you eat stuff that is not edible. 

We already know.

Here’s the thing, though. We know because we learned. And how did we learn? Mostly by doing, certainly by making mistakes, definitely by being curious.

So, in the next few videos, we’ll spend some time talking about how to foster curiosity in your young child. Or, at a minimum, how not to stamp it out. We’ll talk about different ages and stages, and how curiosity plays differently depending on where your child is developmentally.

So, stay tuned. 

And if you have questions, I’m always happy to answer them. Just hit “reply” to this email.

All my best

- Gabriele