On this episode of Parenting the Whole Child, Jennie shares how parents can nurture their child’s academic and social-emotional development by asking the kinds of open-ended, curiosity-driven questions that turn everyday moments into opportunities for play, discovery, and higher-level thinking.

Book of the Month: The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind by Daniel Siegal and Tina Bryson in English and Spanish.

Resource of the Month: Our resource for this month is Project Zero’s Thinking Routines Toolbox. This toolbox highlights thinking routines developed across a number of research projects at PZ. A thinking routine is a set of questions or a brief sequence of steps used to scaffold and support student thinking https://pz.harvard.edu/thinking-routines. 

Additionally, Dr. Goldstone created these prompts to engage with kids about school, relationships, hobbies, and everyday life, and to practice our own curiosity - and remember, it’s about learning, growth, and connection--not getting it right--for us, too! https://www.learningunbound.org/resources/supporting-kids-thinking  

Creative, critical thinking, reasoning, and problem solving are the focus of state education standards, because they’re the skills employers value the most in today’s knowledge economy. They also happen to be key to an empowered, fulfilling adulthood. Curiosity is foundational to these skills: The motivation to investigate, understand, and learn. Using intentional communication prompts like the ones in this guide, we can support kids to not only be successful in school and work, but to be rational, expansive thinkers who respect others’ ideas, seek out diverse perspectives, make informed decisions, and value learning, growth, and connection over having the right answer.

You can learn more about Dr. Jennie Goldstone practices at learningunbound.org. 
Other resources: Book to add to your library- “Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World” by Scott Shigeoka