For very young children, knowing their caregivers are there with support makes them more willing to explore their world and discover new experiences. Providing gentle, positive feedback, while supporting their autonomy by giving them space, is a great way to help guide our children through the learning process of a new task. At a certain point, we’re actually helping our children more by letting them struggle into garments, or repeatedly redo their arithmetic, rather than swooping in to manage the roadblock for them. For elementary age children, perhaps it’s long division. For toddlers, this may be getting into a shirt with head and arms in all the right holes. Space to LearnĪ healthy sense of mastery motivation grows in part through trying and failing at complex tasks.
We also have to give them space to explore on their own terms and at their own pace. But it isn’t only about providing them access to new experiences and ideas. Our role as parents and caregivers is to consistently provide a steady supply of the nourishment needed to keep the curiosity fed.
As they age and enter formal school, mastery motivation makes them fearless in academics, willing to tackle new subjects without second guessing their abilities. In very young kids, a thirsty curiosity leads to early developmental milestones, like language development and behavior mimicking. Fostering a strong sense of mastery motivation in our children is less about making them become curious and more about helping them remain curious. Humans have truly special brains, wired to learn from birth. Curiosity is school-fuel for kids! Tweet this! Wired for It
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