The Socratic method of learning, initiated, by the child, translated…
As my son started getting to understand the world around him, his tiny mind came up with, a ton, of questions: “mommy, why…”, “Mommy, what does so-and-so look like?”, “mommy, will you……?”, and I had always been, more than patient, answering to his, inquiries, and, my mind turned too, because I need to, explain the answers, in a way that he could, understand, and this is, sometimes, a trying, task.
I’d firmly believed, that from my ability to answer my son’s questions, I’ll be able to, help him find the answers to his questions in life as he got older, to help cultivate that ability of problem-solving in him, and, this desire to know more, and the ability to want to learn more, will serve him well. I believe, that we can know everything, but we can’t, stay, uneducated, and the attitude we took, to answering a question we don’t know the answer to is quite, important. Realizing that I don’t have the answers, and then, finding what the answers are on my own, then, I’d, come to realize, that this, was what I want to set as an example for my son.
a Socratic classroom like this…
with the learners, leading the discussions, photo found online
So, when he asked me a question I know the answer to, I’d, answered him immediately, and I’d, give him encouragement, on asking such, a wonderful question, and encouraged him, to keep on asking questions; and when I don’t have the answers, I’d told my son, “mommy will find a picture to show you”, or “let me check, and I’ll tell you the answers!”. Remembered how we went for a walk once, and he’d asked me, “do snake poop look like ours?”, that caught me off-guard, I’d gone home, and googled it immediately, and, the results were, quite interesting, it does, look like our own; recently, when he’d heard me tell him “I don’t know”, he’d, immediately asked me to look it up on my cell phone.
Every time as my son’s eyes light up when he got the answers to his questions, I’d, felt happy too, I know, that with the right attitude to learning, I can feel safe, letting him go off on his own, on the future roads he took to learning, knowing, he’ll be able to, find his own answers to the questions he has in his own life.
And so, this, is how learning occurs, by asking questions, and the parents aren’t, all-knowing, because there are things, that we as adults, have ZERO clue on, unless it’s, our fields of, expertise, and, when the child asks us a question we don’t know the answer to, the attitude we took, to tell them that we don’t know, and how we can, find the right answers to their inquiries is, very important.
Life, the Obstacle Course 