education
S
ummer in Hong Kong brings a wealth of incredible
drama camps, coding classes, chances to try new
sports, and much more. When children return to
school, it can feel like the end of these exciting
learning opportunities. Creativity and curiosity are essential
tools for learners, and building up skills in these areas will
help them do better in tests as well as make learning more
enjoyable. Keep that sense of summer fun going throughout
the year, and you’ll see great results.
Take some inspiration from the ideas below on how to
stimulate your child’s curiosity through creative pursuits.
Developing Minds
Explore
Challenge your child’s mind by finding new ways to explore
the subjects they’re curious about. It’s great to read books
together, but that should only be one thing you do. If your little
one loves trains, create a chart together of the different types
of trains in Hong Kong, research the history of trains in our
city (the Kowloon–Canton Railway Corporation’s website has
great information on this), and plan your own new MTR lines.
Interrogate
Ask open-ended questions to stimulate your child’s thinking.
Children love asking their parents ‘Why?’, but parents can
turn the tables and ask this as well! ‘Why do you think there
are no dinosaurs anymore?’ ‘Why do you think cars have four
wheels?’ ‘Why is the colour red lucky in Hong Kong but not in
other countries?’
Early Learners
Unstructured
As a teacher, I find it hard to see a child messing around
rather than doing something productive and learning. But,
especially for young children, ‘messing around’ is a form
of learning. They’re figuring out the rules of the world and
how things work. If you micromanage their playtime or
overschedule them so that they’re never able to try on a sieve
as a hat or pour water in and out of cups and bowls, you risk
blowing out the spark of excitement that all learners need. Older Students
Model
As children get older, they naturally pull away from their
parents, but this doesn’t mean they stop noticing what you
do. Show your child what a creative and curious person looks
like, and they’ll follow your example. A secondary student
recently told one of my colleagues that he loves expressing
himself through art because he always sees his mum painting
at the weekends. This modelled creativity can apply to other
habits as well, such as reading, writing and playing music.
Stimulate
Engaging all of a young learner’s senses is a great way to
stimulate their curiosity. Active learners can teach themselves
things, so try to encourage this sense of curiosity in your
young learner. In the park, smell flowers, touch leaves, listen
to birds and talk together about what you find. In a museum,
draw pictures of the things you like and explain why you
chose them. This interactivity gets children experiencing and
understanding new stimuli in the world around them. Adapt
It can feel discouraging when children drop things they
were once passionate about. It’s not only annoying to have
spent time and money on your child’s hobby only for them
to stop pursuing it completely, but you also don’t want to
encourage them to quit things. Have a clear discussion
about the consequences of giving up on something, and try
to encourage them to take their passion in a new direction.
Perhaps your once-eager musician would like to learn how to
edit music videos, or your one-time swimming enthusiast can
write sports articles for the school magazine.
Create
Engage your child in every aspect of a creative task. Rather
than setting up paints and paper for them, take them to a craft
shop and look at all of the creative pursuits available. Choose
something new you can discover together, and stick your
artwork up around the house to create a fantastic atmosphere
of creativity.
Willow Hewitt is the Head of English for i-Learner Education
Centre https://www.i-learner.edu.hk/. She has been
teaching in Hong Kong for several years. She also leads the
Publishing Department at i-Learner, which creates engaging
storybooks for young learners of both English and Mandarin.
Autumn 2019
43