How to help preschoolers become life-long learners through inquiry-based learning

OGDEN — Often times Melodie Jensen’s kitchen looks like a science lab, which is appropriate given she has a physics teaching degree. Between jars of water dyed with food coloring and sensory bins loaded to the brim, she’s a fun mom.

“What happens when we add yellow?” she asks.

But most importantly, she’s passing her thirst for knowledge on to her best students — her three kids.

Early education experts say capitalizing on opportunities to peak your child’s curiosity will set them up for life-long learning and problem solving. In the Jensen home, there’s no such thing as too many questions.

“It gives them a chance to do the learning themselves,” she said.

Sometimes she sets up activities to encourage exploration.

“I like to get out the half-a-cup and then say, ‘How many of these do we need? I only have a half-a-cup,’” she said. “Or if we’re measuring flour, I’ll let them fill up the half-a-cup two times and put it into the cup and see if it’s the same size.”

Between beans and seeds, measuring cups and scales, Jensen uses household objects to spark curiosity. But most of the time, it’s through everyday activities that Jensen fosters this environment for learning.

“Cooking, laundry, cleaning can all be learning experiences. Gardening can be a learning experience,” she said. “I love having them sort the socks and match them together or count the socks.”

When they’re baking in the kitchen, she asks her kids what they think is happening as bread rises. She lets her kids weigh watermelons in the garden before and after watering them. She pauses before rushing through a household chore, often pondering how she might use it as an opportunity to teach her children.

‘Help them grow and develop’

Jensen practices what educators call Inquiry-Based Learning.

“Children have questions and they ask them constantly,” said Katrina Herd. “All that inquiry based learning really is, is using those questions to help them grow and develop.”

Herd is a preschool education specialist with the Utah State Board of Education.

“Your job as the knowledgeable adult in the room is to say, “Oh did you know that ‘why?’ actually tells us a little more about ‘how?’” she said.

“A good rule of thumb is to think about going back and forth four times. If you ask me ‘what?’ and I respond, then you ask me a follow-up question and I respond, and a back and forth four times is a good healthy exchange that lets kids know that their thought process matters, that what they are trying to put together about the world is going to make sense, and that you are there to help support that,” she said.

Put away distractions and really listen to your child, she urged.

“That signals to the child, ‘I matter and this question is important,” Herd said.

Herd said parents don’t need to be the expert on every topic.

“Teach our children that we might not know all the answers, but we know how to find them,” Herd said.

She encourages parents to avoid the temptation to turn to devices for every answer. Instead, show your children there are other avenues to find answers.

“‘Hmm, I wonder where we could find a way to make cookies when we get home,’” she said. “And teach them to look at a recipe book or call Grandma.”

Jensen was proud of her oldest daughter who wanted to learn more about the planet Pluto. Rather than asking her mom to search for information online on her phone, 7-year-old Adilynn Jensen found answers in a nonfiction book in their home library.

This type of learning doesn’t require a special outing or experience, Herd emphasized. She said these interactions are embedded in daily interactions like pointing things out while driving in the car.

“’Oh, I see a digger. Why is that digger different than that dump truck over there?’” she said. “Be the one to ask the next question for them. Lead them on to what comes next.”

She encourages parents to take a minute to write down a few questions on a post-it note before reading their child a book to promote further discussion.

“The more that we can do that and draw those connections for children, the more that they are going to continue to ask those questions and keep that inquiry going and become lifelong learners,” Herd said.

“Sometimes as a parent it’s frustrating because it takes more time to talk through activities, to ask questions, to set things up,” Jensen admits, but she says this process pays dividends in helping her raise more independent children.

“But when he gets to discover it himself, when he comes upon a problem like that again… we’ve created a problem solver,” she said of her four-year-old son, Lucas. “I feel like that actually cements a concept way more.”

“Home is the first classroom and the adults that are caring for children—those are the first teachers,” Herd said.

For more ideas on how to help prepare kindergarten, visit 5B45kids.com.