Children are naturally curious; agree or disagree? Thinking back to my own childhood, I distinctly remember walking down the street with my dad and passing a statue of a man on a horse on the side of the street. One million questions instantly came to mind: Who is that man? Is he dead? Did he and his horse stand there so long that they turned into stone? Is that how all statues are made? And how did they get the horse to stand still long enough, anyway?

If you've ever spent time around a preschool-age child, you're probably more than familiar with the constant, seemingly never-ending stream of "why's" and "what's" and "how come's". Everything is interesting, and mysterious, and there is so much to be learned and understood. Reflecting on this, the phrase "children are naturally curious" seems like an obvious truth. As parents, teachers, and researchers, our question then becomes: How can we take advantage of this wonderful aspect of childhood and use it to guide, encourage, and facilitate learning?

As adults, we do not verbalize every thought that comes to mind. When we do choose to ask a question, it is likely to be about something we have at least some interest in. If you think about your own experiences, you will probably also find that you are more likely to actually listen to the answer and remember the information when it is given in response to your own inquiry. Research shows that the same is true for children. Questioning promotes conversation and results in deeper understanding as well as better recall; this process in turn leading to further questions, more learning, and a richer education. In reality, however, inquiry-guided learning is rarely used with young children. Some work that my colleagues and I have done around questioning in Miami suggests that, when prompted to use questions to figure out which of two objects are hidden inside a box, low-income preschoolers have trouble doing so successfully. If children are naturally curious, how can this be the case? In fact, early childhood education often tends to be teacher guided; preschoolers are directed through activities, read stories, and given time to engage in free play. In this framework, children are not often given the chance to ask questions, to steer lessons and discussions towards their own curiosities, and to have that natural curiosity guide their learning.

At this point you might be thinking: if we let 4-year-olds completely dictate the lessons, we'd spend the whole school year learning about their favorite cartoon characters. Perhaps, but as I am sure you know, one great thing about 4-year-olds is that they have questions about pretty much everything. Even if the context is provided by the teacher, children's inquiry can drive the discussion. Indeed, as Kim Brenneman points out in the discussion around using fiction to inspire science learning, even cartoons have potential for great learning opportunities. If question-asking becomes part of the environment, at home or at school, curiosity can blossom into fascinating discussion, exploration, and understanding.

So, here is the big question. How can we make questions part of the environment without letting them drive us crazy? Of course, there is no clear answer. There has to be a balance, one which may take time to find. We can, however, start small. When we introduce a new book or lesson, instead of telling the children what we are going to learn about, we can introduce the materials or topic and then ask them what they want to know about it. Science naturally lends itself to capitalizing on children's curiosity. Something as simple as an apple seed can lead to a great discussion. What is it? Where did it come from? How does it become a plant? As the adults, we tend to drive the discussion, ask the questions, and give the answers. If we sometimes sit back and let the children do the asking, however, they might be a lot more willing to listen to the answers. This may take some time, and some coaxing, but eventually questions can become a part of every conversation. The important thing to remember is, we don't always have to have all the answers! Questions can result not only in answers but in explorations, the teacher and children learning side by side. I have seen teachers write children's questions on a large board, and then use them to lead future discussions or experiments. To include general inquiry in small-group activity, one teacher I know asked the children to take turns bringing something from home and then have the rest of the class ask questions to figure out what it might be. Games like "I spy" or "20 questions" are also fun and easy activities that generate questioning and make it part of the environment. Children are naturally curious, and who knows? All of that curiosity might teach us adults something along the way!

Irena Nayfeld is a doctoral student in the Developmental Psychology program at the University of Miami. She is currently working on assessing inquiry skills in low-income preschoolers and developing an intervention to increase question-asking in the classroom, constructing a direct assessment of science for this population, and evaluating a preschool science curriculum designed by the Miami Science Museum. In the past, Irena worked at Rutgers University with Kim Brenneman on the PrePS science curriculum, as well as the development of a small-scale intervention to increase interest in science and science materials in the classroom.