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Questioning and Listening 

We should encourage our children to ask questions.

A friend once asked a Nobel prize winner in physics, "Why did you become a scientist, rather than a doctor or lawyer or businessman, like the other immigrant kids in your neighborhood?" The scientist responded: 

    My mother made me a scientist without ever intending it. Every other mother would ask her child after school: "So? Did you learn anything today?"  

    But not my mother. She always asked me a different question. "Izzy," she would say, "did you ask a good question today?" That difference--asking good questions-- made me become a scientist! 

If we can't answer all of our children's questions, that's all right-- no one has all the answers, even scientists. And children don't need lengthy, detailed answers to all of their questions. We can propose answers, test them out, and check them with someone else. The library, or even the dictionary, can help answer questions. 

We can also encourage our children to tell us their ideas and listen to their explanations. Being listened to will help them to gain confidence in their thinking and to develop their skills and interest in science. Listening helps us to determine just what children know and don't know. (It also helps the child figure out what he or she knows.) 

The bottom line is, your children are watching you. They will follow your example. Your excitement is the key!
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The information above was based on material from the Department of Education