Fostering curiosity in kids (and their parents) since 2011

Posts by Shala Howell

Have you heard about the National Park’s free annual pass for fourth graders?

Have you heard about the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Every Kid in a Park program? In a nutshell, the program offers fourth graders (and 10-year-old home-schooled equivalents) a free annual pass to every National Park in the U.S. Between now and August 31, 2019, fourth graders can use their passes to get free admission to any park in the National Park system for themselves and a select number of family and friends.

stuffed penguin looking at a manmade fountain on the hospital grounds

How can you keep kids in the loop when you visit a sick relative without them?

My father has been having a few health issues lately, which have resulted in my flying down to Texas a couple of times to help out with this and that. My daughter, being the curious and caring sort, has had all sorts of questions about what’s going on with Grandpa. Respecting both my father’s need for privacy and my daughter’s desire for answers has been challenging at times. On my last trip, I accidentally hit upon a good solution. I thought I’d share it with you in case you also wanted to try it.

My daughter waves to Sue the T-Rex back in the days when Sue lived in the main hall of the Field Museum in Chicago.

What’s so important about fostering curiosity anyway? 

I’ve been doing a fair amount of reading and thinking about curiosity lately. One of the first articles I came across was by Daisy Yuhas of the Hechinger Report. In it, she talks about a set of studies that demonstrate that curious people are happier in their jobs, better at social interactions, and enjoy greater academic success. Reader, I had questions.