Answering Children's Questions at Our Christian School

What’s in a question?

I heard a psychologist say that pre-school aged children ask an average of 100 questions of their parents each day. Perhaps that sounds low based on fist-hand experience with hours spent in close proximity to a curious young mind. I love to hear our student’s questions. Here are few of recent favorites:

Mr. Janssen, is Scooby-Doo non-fiction?

How did the first people make tools if they didn’t have tools?

What is a disk? Is it like a whisk? It sounds dangerous.

Mr. Janssen, is it the same weather up there? (J)

While we might become exasperated with the seemingly endless onslaught of questions, it is key to recognize that these questions represent young image-bearing children of the Lord attempting to figure out all things – from abstract ideas like love and heaven, to physical things like making a leaf whistle between their palms and painting things with water to see what they look like when wet.

The treasure of childhood discovery is a crucial time for questions to be answered in a way that causes them to grow in the life of faith. “Is there a distinctly Christian way of asking and answering questions?” asked a favorite wise voice of mine years ago. My answer would be yes! Questions and their answers should provide opportunity to see the connected nature of God’s world. It is complex in its design, and yet often simple in its beauty.

·         The story of a perfect world, sin, and its restoration back to what it was meant to be should be frequent touch stones since questions intersect faith and observations so naturally.

·         The time given to them should include the ability to stop, reflect, and marvel at who God is and how he designed the world as our home.

·         Answering questions should always leave room for our students to push the edges of known understanding. Fulfilling the commandment to “subdue creation” (Gen 1:28) remains their calling and their contributions may be different than their parents. New ways and means are possible to use the world around us in God-honoring ways that he intended.

Praise God for the opportunity to have our children’s questions in the context of a Christian school!  SJ