Similarities Between Kids Loving the Dentist and Kids Loving to Learn
When you give it a thought, you can easily find the similarities between visits to the dentist and visits to a proverbial fount of knowledge. One can technically go through life without healthy teeth but it makes it much harder to thrive. Similarly, you could go through life learning very little. But again that takes flourishing off the table. With both going to the dentist and learning, our early experiences can shape our attitudes for the rest of our lives. Have you seen a grown person terrified of going to the dentist? It’s not pretty.
Some kids LOVE going to the dentist and even try to find reasons to go. Incidentally, the desire to go leads to better outcomes for the child at the dentist. Similarly, a joy for learning opens the gates to the dams of potential in kids. That’s sappy imagery but it is still true. It’s also sadly true that if kids have a dread for learning their potential is squashed. We want kids in the loves dentists, loves learning camps. It turns out there are clear patterns in the experience of kids who love going to the dentist. So, let’s extend the analogy and take some lessons from how lovers of the dentist are created to help us create lovers of learning.
Lessons from lovers of dentists
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Kids Who Love the Dentist Were Introduced Early and Gently
Switch out the word ‘dentist’ with ‘learning’ here and you’ve got the lesson. The most common thread amongst dentist lovers is that they were introduced to dental offices at a young age. Their first couple of visits were just to get used to the space and there was a build up over time to actually tasking the child in any way. No one was thrown into the deep end. What do you think will happen if the first time a kid sees the dentist is when they need a cavity filled?
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Kids Love Dentists with Office Space that Is Delightful
All the kids in the dentist lovers camp saw their dentists in spaces that are more like playgrounds than hospitals. The environment was whimsical and full of interest. One parent described a giant tooth smiling at you as you walk into the lobby and another mentioned a life size toothbrush. Some dental offices played kids music, had games in the waiting room. The lesson here is that dreary stern learning spaces work against themselves. There is inherent value in delightful and engaging presentation of material we want kids to learn.
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Kids Love Dentists Who Are Caring and Relatable
No, the dentist and their staff did not use baby voices and costumes. There is an intangible quality of a person that results in a child feeling seen, heard and respected. We all know children have some commical concerns but we don’t have to make them feel silly about it. Dentist lovers all report staff who the kids trusted. The value of a teacher who cares and makes you feel like they care can stay with a child their whole life. It really helps to turn a child into a lover of learning.
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Kids Love Dentists Who Make Them Feel Like They Have Some Control
Kids who loved their dentists all had another thing in common – their dentist took time to involve them in their care. “Are you ready for the chair to go back?” “Mr splashy would like to visit your mouth, can he?” “Would you like the mint flavor or the strawberry flavor?” When you can’t decide much for yourself, anything that gives you a bit more independence is a huge plus. The lesson for learning is to give kids choice within the boundaries that we need them to be. Having some choice, no matter how small, increases their sense of control.
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Kids Who Love Dentists Are Not Exposed to Dental Horror Stories from The Grownups in Their Lives
In short, no one threw their own stress about the dentist on these kids. They didn’t have to hear about terrible root canals, or that one time the anesthesia failed, or needles the size of jack hammers. Nope. The lesson here for growing lovers of learning is not to put our own past trauma on kids. They don’t need to know how terrible spelling was for you or how much physics remained a mystery. If you don’t have anything good to say, not saying anything is good.
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Kids Who Love Dentists Get Treats and Rewards from The Dentist
Even as an adult, who doesn’t love getting a sticker. When you vote, getting that ‘I voted’ sticker probably gives you more joy than you want to admit. The treats the dentist lovers got from their visits were not large or expensive. It seems that the recognition in some physical form is more important than the form itself.
Hopefully, these patterns get you thinking on how we can make lovers of learning out of the kids in our lives. Afterall, we all know teeth can be full of wisdom (sorry, couldn’t help it).
