There is nothing quite like sitting back and watching your child figure out how to build, explore, and play. You sit there, biting your nails that they won’t hurt themselves, but stay uninvolved unless they ask for your help.
My attachment parenting style comes through in this way. I’ll sit off to the side, watching my children’s curiosity as they explore. I interfere if I’m concerned they will really hurt themselves, but other than that, I let them lead and choose the activities. If they want to play by themselves, I encourage that. If they invite me to play and learn with them, I’m there for that, too.
There are several theories on how kids learn, but one of my favorites is discovery learning. It allows for this kind of curious play and learning time. I enjoy the little furrow of their brows as they work through problems. I watch my kids’ faces light up when they figure out how something works, is created, or how it can be taken apart. I celebrate with them when they remember what they learned the next time.
What is discovery learning?
Discovery learning was primarily developed by Jean Piaget, Jerome Bruner, and Seymour Papert as a form of inquiry-based learning – learning through asking questions to solve problems.
The idea behind discovery learning is that kids will learn best through exploration, experimentation, and discovery of facts and information on their own. The theory discourages memorization of facts and instead encourages hands on learning. The key of discovery learning is that children are learning through experience.
What are the benefits?
1. Empowers the learner
Because your child is taking charge of their learning by allowing their curiosity to lead them towards the answer, they feel empowered by their learning. They have control over the process which is important for toddlers and preschoolers. Allowing toddlers and preschoolers to have a semblance of control also encourages the development of their independence.
2. Encourages problem-solving skills
Problem-solving skills are imperative once children are in grade school. Developing these skills early will help their ability to solve problems later. The ability to look at a problem from multiple angles, to ask a variety of questions, and to be creative in the solutions will be more guided than not with younger children, but demonstrating the process will allow your child to slowly develop these necessary skills through modeling the behavior.
3. Personalized learning
Each child is different and learns differently. Whether your child is a tactile learner, visual learner, or auditory learner, discovery learning allows for each child to learn in their own way on their own time. Because of this, each child’s confidence will be reinforced.
How can discovery learning be used in everyday life?
- Use real-life problems to further your child’s understanding. You don’t have to create special scenarios for young children to use discovery learning. Discovery learning can be incorporated into anything they are doing from playing on the playground to building blocks or coloring. Every day, young children are encountering problems and learning how their world functions. Using things from their real, everyday lives will encourage them to look more closely at the world around them.
- Asking questions about their world will encourage your child’s curiosity and learning. Even questions as simple as, “How many blocks do you think you can stack before the tower falls?” and then “Why do you think the tower fell?” can encourage discovery learning. For young kids, it isn’t a matter of whether their answers or right or wrong, but rather modeling asking questions, delving deeper into the problem, and testing possible solutions.
- Letting children play on their own, use their imagination, and create their own wonderful worlds is so important for their development. It can be easy for us to hover, to fuss over their actions, and to try to control the situation and their world. When we let go of the control, when we take a few steps back, and we allow them to determine their own paths, they are more likely to be engaged in learning and their curiosity and independence will grow.
- Keep in mind that, with allowing children to play on their own comes allowing them to make mistakes. Some of the best learning comes – not from the correct answer – but from the million ways the answer wasn’t found. A world of inventions, discoveries, and more have all been the results of mistakes. To this end, allow your child to make mistakes while learning. And most importantly – try to not react negatively when they do make a mistake. Instead, ask them why they think the result happened. These mistakes are the perfect opportunity to model asking questions.
Incorporating discovery learning into your child’s everyday will open their world up to them in a whole new way. They will feel more free to explore, to discover, and to learn. They won’t be afraid to make mistakes because they will feel more in control and know that they can try again until they are successful or find the solution – sometimes to only a problem they know.