Learning Together

Introduction

Learning Environments can be any place or any location.  Parents and caregivers can activate learning and create a learning environment by stimulating an awareness of the potential learning possibilities in the environment.  Comments of “boredom” are often a consequence of students who have not had the opportunity to learn how to cultivate an interest.  Parents and caregivers are educational models; developing an interest can be contagious.

Whether it is riding in the car to visit a relative or shopping at the mall, we can cultivate a child’s curiosity by:

• Bringing attention to an object or part of an object that is unusual in some way (color, size, value, shape, etc.)
• Focusing on some part of a whole to determine how and why it functions as a part of the whole
• Asking what was the motivation factor behind it or its inclusion
• Stimulating curiosity by aligning it or hooking it on to something the individual already knows

Comments of “boredom” are often a consequence of students who have not had the opportunity to learn how to cultivate an interest. Parents and caregivers are educational models; developing an interest can be contagious.

Sparking Curiosity Activities

The following graphics represent four methods to spark curiosity in any setting.  Each of these graphics can be translated into questions to stimulate curiosity in a variety of situations and/or settings.

• Look at ____________.  What are the parts that come together to create the whole (picture, object, etc.)?
• Look at ____________.  What parts or detail seems to “stand out” or be the most important?
• Look at ____________.  What do you think was the reason or purpose for its function, role, or use?
• Look at ____________.  How does this relate to something you already know?

Learning Environments Outside the Traditional Classroom PDF

Click here to download PDF of Creating Learning Environments Outside the Traditional Classroom