The Secret to Raising Curious Kids

As a mom of four and a former special education teacher, I’ve spent much of my life helping children learn, grow, and reach their potential.

For over a decade, I worked with students who had a wide range of learning differences, behavioral challenges, strengths, and needs. Many of them had challenging home lives and odds against them.

My job was to advocate for these children, help them discover how they learned best, and create environments where they could thrive. I worked with parents as a team. It was the best thing I could’ve done to prepare me for motherhood.

When I became a mom, that advocacy naturally shifted toward my own children. After going down a rabbit hole in regards to nontoxic living, I eventually was able to find a balance through what I call “intentional living”.

What started as wanting the very best for them in food, products and experiences eventually led me to homeschooling (which was never part of my plan), and a much deeper understanding of what well rounded children truly need to flourish.

When we dove head first into homeschooling, I wanted to focus on sparking my children’s curiosity to make learning exciting and self driven.

It’s clear. Children need to be given opportunities to wonder. This sparks true engagement and enthusiasm about new ideas.

In a culture that constantly encourages us to do more, schedule more, and fill every spare moment, I believe one of the greatest gifts we can give our children is the opportunity to be amazed by the world around them - and to slow down and soak it in.

The key takeaway? The secret to raising curious kids isn’t more pressure, more activities, or more academics. It’s sparking wonder.

Wonder Is Where Learning Begins

If you’ve ever spent time with a younger child, you’ve probably experienced their endless stream of questions, right?

Why is the sky blue?

How do birds know where to fly?

Can fish sleep?

Why do stars twinkle?

Who taught spiders how to build webs?

Children are naturally wired for wonder. As adults, this wonder dissipates over time. But children continue to notice things that adults overlook.

They ask questions adults stopped asking years ago. They approach the world with curiosity instead of assumptions.

Before a child learns a fact, they become curious and ask questions. Before they become curious, they wonder.

Wonder is often the starting point for every meaningful learning experience. It’s the spark that ignites a desire to explore, investigate, and understand the world. As parents, our role isn’t to extinguish that spark with constant answers or over-scheduled lives. Our role is to protect it.

Play Is One of the Most Powerful Ways to Spark Wonder

One of the biggest misconceptions in education and parenting is that play and learning are somehow separate activities.

Children don’t see it that way.

Think of it like this… when a child builds a fort in the living room, they’re experimenting with engineering, spatial awareness, and problem-solving.

When they create a pretend restaurant, they’re practicing communication, creativity, social skills, and even early math concepts.

When they spend hours immersed in an imaginary world, they’re developing storytelling, planning, and critical thinking skills.

Play isn’t the opposite of learning.

Play is often where learning comes alive. It is the highest form of research, as Albert Einstein once said.

As adults, we sometimes look at a child building with blocks or digging in the dirt and think they’re “just playing.” What we don’t see, is their brains making connections, testing theories, solving problems, and developing skills they’ll use for the rest of their lives. Play is SO much more than just that.

Let Them Ask the Questions

This part is so important for driving curiosity and also encouraging learning at home.

As parents, it’s tempting to answer every single question our children ask. After all, we want to help them learn, right? But one thing I always remembered from my years of training as a teacher was, be the “guide on the side”.

Some of the most powerful learning happens when we don’t immediately provide the answer, or immerse ourselves in the exact thing they are trying to figure out.

I meet my kids in those moments and respond by saying, “What do you think?” or “Let’s find out together.”

This simple shift changes everything.

Instead of learning that adults always have the answers (which isn’t always true), children learn how to seek answers themselves.

They become active participants in the learning process rather than passive recipients of information.

The goal isn’t to raise children who can memorize facts. The goal is to raise children who love discovering them, right?! Yes!

The Power of Boredom

This may sound surprising, but trust me when I say that boredom isn’t always a problem that needs to be solved- boredom is often the birthplace of creativity.

When children aren’t constantly entertained, something remarkable begins to happen. They start imagining. They begin building. They invent games, create stories, solve problems, and explore new ideas.

Some of my children’s most creative moments have started with the words, “Mom, I’m bored”, and I LOVE to hear it!

A short time later, they’ve transformed cardboard boxes into pirate ships, castles, race cars, or entire cities. This is where the magic happens.

In today’s world, we’re often quick to fill every moment with screens, activities, or distractions- but children need unstructured time (within a structured routine).

They need space to think. They need opportunities to create their own fun.

Wonder often grows in the quiet spaces.

Experiences Create Wonder

One of the reasons I love homeschooling is that it reminds me that learning doesn’t have to happen within four walls, because the world itself is a classroom.

Wonder happens when a child sees a sea turtle up close at an aquarium, or a giraffe eating lettuce at your local zoo. It happens when they discover an unusual insect during a nature walk. It happens when they visit a farm and realize food doesn’t magically appear on grocery store shelves.

Experiences create questions. Questions create curiosity. Curiosity creates learning.

That’s why I encourage parents to prioritize experiences whenever possible. Visit museums. Explore nature trails. Spend afternoons at the library. Attend community events. Visit farms, parks, and local businesses. Travel when you can. Volunteer together. Even if you aren’t homeschooling.

Children rarely remember every worksheet they completed. They remember experiences.

And those experiences often become the foundation for lifelong interests and passions.

Wonder and Relationships Go Hand in Hand

When people talk about children interacting with their peers, the conversation often centers around socialization. While socialization matters, I think the bigger goal is “relationship-building”.

Children learn so much through meaningful interactions with other people. They learn how to communicate, collaborate, solve conflicts, share ideas, negotiate, lead, and follow.

Whether it’s through sports teams, church groups, homeschool co-ops, scouts, neighborhood playgroups, community classes, or service projects, relationships help children see the world through different perspectives.

Every new friendship introduces new ideas.

Every new idea creates another opportunity for wonder.

What I Hope for My Own Children

As an educator, I absolutely value academics. Education matters. Learning matters.

But if I had to choose between raising a child who knows all the answers and raising a child who never stops asking questions, I would choose the second every single time.

I want my children to think critically. I want them to ask good questions. I want them to love learning, solve problems, build meaningful relationships, and approach life with curiosity and wonder.

Because facts can be forgotten, but a love of learning lasts forever. Education is something no one can take away from you.

The Greatest Gift We Can Give Our Kids

I’ve spent years advocating for children—first in special education classrooms and now in my own home as a mother.

And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this:

Children don’t need adults who have all the answers. They need adults who are willing to wonder alongside them. They need adults who encourage exploration, celebrate questions, and understand that learning is about so much more than grades, worksheets, or test scores.

So what’s the secret to raising curious kids?! It isn’t more pressure It’s sparking wonder.

And when wonder stays alive, learning becomes a lifelong adventure.

About the Author

Hi, I’m Jenna Johnson, M.Ed. I’m a former special education teacher, homeschool mom of four, content creator, and passionate advocate for raising well-rounded children. After spending more than a decade helping students with diverse learning needs thrive in the classroom, I now help families embrace intentional motherhood, personalized education, and a whole-child approach to learning. My passion is helping parents nurture curiosity, confidence, character, and a lifelong love of learning in their children.

If this post resonated with you, I’d love for you to share it with another parent who could use the reminder that childhood isn’t a race. The goal isn’t to raise children who know everything. It’s to raise children who never stop wondering.

Thanks for reading,

— Jenna

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