Children Who Can't Stop Asking "Why?"

"Teacher, why is the sky blue?"

"Why do cicadas chirp?"

"Why do puddles form?"

When I spend time with children, there are days when the "whys" never stop.

In the past, I used to try to provide an answer every single time.

I would explain what I knew and look up what I didn't know later.

I thought that was the teacher's role.

But one day, I realized something.

Perhaps what children are truly seeking isn't just the "correct answer."

A child found a cicada shell in the schoolyard and asked,

"Teacher, what is this?"

Instead of answering immediately, I asked back,

"What do you think it is?"

Then,

"A cicada's house!"

"Isn't it a wooden suit?"

"Maybe it's where the baby came out!"

The children's ideas came pouring out one after another.

In that moment, there was no atmosphere of trying to guess the right answer, but rather a "time to enjoy thinking."

Seeing that, I felt that "why?" is not just a word to ask for an answer, but a trigger to start thinking for oneself.

That is why, lately, instead of giving the answer right away, I try to say things like,

"What do you think?"

"Shall we look it up together?"

As a result, the children have started to enjoy exploring with sparkling eyes, sharing their own thoughts and listening to their friends' ideas.

A child's "why?" is not a question meant to trouble adults.

I believe it is a gateway to growth, a desire to know the world.

That is why I want to be a teacher who accepts those "whys" with care and wonders about things together with them.

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