Vol. 20 | [Childcare Internship] I can't answer a child's 'Why?'... Is it okay to say 'I don't know'?

Teacher, why is the sky blue?

Why can bugs fly?

Why can't babies talk?

During your internship, children will suddenly ask you, 'Why?'

I don't know.

But, is it okay to say 'I don't know' when I'm a teacher?

I have to answer something...

Don't you ever feel anxious like that?

But I don't want interns to become teachers who know everything.

In fact, I want you to pause for a moment before giving them the answer right away.

Do children really only want to know the 'correct answer'?

Why do you think?

If you ask them that,

Maybe there's blue paint in the sky?

Sometimes they come back with answers that adults would never think of.

This is the interesting part.

I don't know. I'd like to know, too.

Shall we look it up together?

That is perfectly fine.

A childcare worker doesn't have to be someone who teaches everything.

I believe it is also about being someone who finds wonder in a child's curiosity,

thinks about it with them,

and can pause with them to ask, 'I wonder why?'

When you encounter something you don't know, it's an opportunity.

Before looking for the answer, try asking the child what they are thinking.

An unexpected world might open up from there.

An internship is not a place to prove how much you know.

It is a place where you, too, learn alongside the children.

You don't have to be afraid of saying 'I don't know'.

There is childcare that begins with those very words.

A word from the director.

'I don't know either. Let's think about it together.' In that moment, the teacher and the child become 'learning partners'.