How to Raise a Lifelong Learner

A lifelong learner is a child who understands the value of education and keeps their inner curiosity alive throughout their lives. They have a desire to grow, know how to ask thought-provoking questions and have an inner thirst for knowledge.

The following are a few lessons you can teach your child to infuse a love of learning into their lives.

Encouraging Curiosity at All Ages

Your children can become lifelong learners if you encourage curiosity at all ages. Start with toys, books, and even online content so that they have the best shot at learning early on.

Essentially, you want them to find true love and passion for a particular field.  You’ll start noticing these inclinations early on, and it’s best to fuel their passion with more curiosity about the subject and areas around it. Encourage your child to do more, go outside their comfort zone and explore life through their own eyes.

A study titled ‘States of Curiosity Modulate Hippocampus-Dependent Learning via the Dopaminergic Circuit’ showcased that younger children love unfamiliar patterns even if they can’t express their satisfaction with words.

Problem Solving Skills

A lifelong learner isn’t just someone who studies hard and gets good grades. A lifelong learner is someone who has strong problem-solving skills.

Children should have cognitive problem-solving skills that will be helpful throughout their lives. 

When they face challenges in life, they’ll feel confident about solving them on their own.  If they’re able to cope with life’s issues, they can then spend more time on energy learning instead of worrying about situations beyond their control.

Learning from Failure

Don’t promote stress as failing. Instead, present every failure as a learning opportunity. When children don’t fear failure, they’ll take risks and desire to keep gaining more insight with every mistake or success. They’ll be able to understand why they fell off the bike, or why they couldn’t solve that math problem. 

Failure is a great teacher for humans of all ages, but we tend to become risk-averse as we mature. This is why it’s important to inculcate the right set of patterns in the child’s mind early on. You can redefine failure as an important tool for learning and infuse that into your children.

The Right Educational Environment

The right type of classroom setting can significantly impact the way children perceive the idea of learning. Choose a school that encourages teachers to incorporate efficient pedagogical approaches to teaching.