Natural-Born Learners

It's impossible to resist. Whether we're trying or not (and hey, you have to learn how to try), the moment we pop onto the planet, we start learning like wildfire. Picking up on facial expressions and social cues, mastering motor skills, developing language, instinctively interacting with touchscreens—the list is endless.

Just think how much a child picks up in the first five years of life just through observation and experimentation.

Sometimes, though, after we've sent our children (or, you know, ourselves) off to school, we forget that learning is an intrinsic part of living. Really. Even if the only new thing you learned yesterday was Kim Kardashian's moon sign or that Skittles now come in a new and revolting flavor, you've taken in new information.

Ergo, you've learned something.

Curious George

Of course, keeping up on reality TV celebrity stats and snack food trends aren't exactly the sort of lifelong learning that most educators are hoping their students will commit themselves to. We just wanted to make the point that learning happens all the time, even when we're seemingly zoning out.

It does, however, seem to happen more rapidly for infants, toddlers, and children. And apart from all the actual neuroscience behind early development, that's for one big reason: they're crazy curious.

Pretty much the minute youngsters begin to perceive the world around them they want to know what's going on over there and how that works and what this is and who you are and why (and why, and why, and why) things happen and occur and exist the way they do.

Now, we could argue all day about what happens to that curiosity—where it goes, why it goes, and whose fault it is—but that's not really the point. The point is that any time one wishes to be start being curious again, one can. There are plenty of things to wonder and learn and hypothesize about and plenty of ways to acquire new knowledge, and once a person realizes that, and begins seeking it out, that person will become a lifelong learner. See where we're going with this?

Inspiring Learners for Life

A lifelong learner isn't someone who stays in school forever. A lifelong learner is someone who continues to be curious, ask new questions, and seek new information. And one of the best ways to make sure that your child grows up to be a lifelong learner?

Become one yourself.

Not sure how? Well, that's why we've compiled some tips below to learn how to highlight and model lifelong learning so that your children will be inspired to follow in your footsteps. What else could you aim for in life?

1. Encourage curiosity—even if sometimes it looks like it'll kill the cat.

When your toddler tries to dump everything out of a dresser drawer to see what it contains, try not to explode. Sure, you can set limits—e.g., "Ask first if you want to see what's in there," or "How 'bout we keep the things in the drawer next time?" But then do what you can to help him explore his surroundings. " We can take everything out if we're careful and we put it away afterwards." Get the picture? No cats injured here.

2. Wonder out loud.

When you find yourself curious about something, put it into words. Let your kids see you puzzling over what something is or why it works the way it does, and let them see the way you go about getting answers to your questions. The simple statement, "I wonder how the baker got that jelly inside the doughnut," could spawn discussions, theories, Internet searches, or better (and tastier) yet—a trip to a doughnut shop to ask the baker in person.

3. Read with your children, and let them see you reading on your own.

Yeah, it's true. Shmoop has a thing for literature. But seriously, even in this age of 140-character Tweets, a large chunk of the information we take in comes in the form of the written word. That means that kids who are strong readers will likely have greater access to knowledge for the foreseeable future.

Help your children both to see the value of reading and to become strong readers themselves by exploring books, e-readers, blogs, newspapers, dictionaries, encyclopedias, scholarly publications, and written word resources of all sorts with them. And by letting them see you explore those resources on your own, you'll show how great it is to make that a habit, whether you're on your own or doing it together.

4. Delve into their passions.

Your kid likes dinosaurs? Help her discover every possible resource she can to learn more: library books, videos, magazines, museums, pictures, diagrams, models, stories, local archaeological digs or lectures, poems (yes, poems: Jack Prelutsky has some great ones)—basically, anything and everything you and she can find. Help her delve deep into her area of interest so that she'll know how to do that delving again (and again, and again) every time a new area of interest pops up.

5. Play the "why" game.

Actually, we should say survive the "why" game. Your child is going to hit a stage at which his favorite word (and, coincidentally, your least favorite) will be "why." He'll say it after every statement you make, but we challenge you, instead of spontaneously combusting, to see if you can outlast him. Answer every single "why." Use simple statements and go for as long as you can. When you absolutely can't come up with anymore answers (and "Because I said so" doesn't count), turn the question around on him. "I don't know. Why do you think?"

You can also end the game with, "Let's find out," or "I'm not sure, but maybe we should try to find out tomorrow. Do you think that's a good idea?"

We're not promising it will work—or that the "why" game will go well every time—but asking good questions is an important skill, and at the "why" stage, your child is just beginning to develop it. So try not to shut him down—those "why's" can come in handy for a long time yet.

6. Explore something new to you.

It doesn't matter whether you take a new class, read up on a new topic, take up a new hobby or sport, or decide to try to build, cook, sew, or create something you haven't tried before. It only matters that you challenge yourself in a new way and let your kids see you in the process of learning.

7. Let your kids see you fail and keep going.

If you turn out to be a terrible football player, your cake tastes like cardboard, your seams pop open, your birdhouse falls apart, or you wind up hating those guitar lessons you were sure you were going to love—hey, that's okay, too. Failure is an essential part of learning because it helps redirect or refocus your energy.

As long as you make different choices instead of just giving up, well guess what; you've learned something here. You can take up a different sport, add more baking soda, double stitch your edges, use better glue or stronger nails, or take up a different instrument. And so can your kids. Ta da.

8. Attend workshops, lectures, plays, and cultural events with your kids.

Seek out opportunities for your whole family to learn together on a regular basis. Trips to the library can be a great family learning experience, as can visits to museums, art galleries, and performances. There are many such experiences that are free (minus the transportation to get you there), and sometimes your local library may have passes to events that would otherwise require an admission fee.

Make a habit of regularly checking your local newspapers and online listings to see what's going on in your community. Then take the time to seek out some new adventures both to broaden your children's experiences and to give your family a few new discussion topics for the dinner table.

As long as you're keeping an open mind, and showing what a great thing that is through your example, you'll see a lifelong learner sprouting up before your very eyes.