Clearly there is no need to answer the question posed in the headline above – but I still pose it because it sometimes seems to me that curiosity is one of those personality traits which we don’t do enough to promote.

Yet stimulating curiosity among those children who, for whatever reason, have lost their curiosity quotient (if I may invent such a measure) can prove a most invaluable exercise.

As a result, when I was designing the Literacy Box (a collection of over 200 homework ideas to support literacy outcomes at Key Stage 2) I insisted that the box should be designed in such a way as to be visible to everyone in the classroom and to parents who decide to choose alongside their child.

The box contains 232 A5 cards, is proven to be motivating for children and parents, and leads to successful literacy outcomes – as well as directing children’s natural curiosity towards meaningful activity and outcomes

All of these cards are divided into four sections – reading, writing, words and sentences, and spelling.

They have been written with year groups 2 – 4 in mind – depending on the developmental stage of individual children.

The point about the approach is that any card can be used from any section – for as long as the child wants to work with it at home. Over a period of time – using the cards little and often – children will build up skills, knowledge and abilities to think about language and literacy in different and more thoughtful ways.

You can download a free sample, supporting documents and our information leaflet from our website at www.thinkingchild.org.uk/literacy-box/.

What’s more, you can also view a video showing the product being used and comments from both parents and staff. You can also call us on 0844 332 0123 or email us at info@thinkingchild.org.uk for more information.

But that is not all. If you are looking for even more varied approaches to literacy work at KS2, you might like to take a peek at my blog (www.thinkingchild.org.uk/blog/) which contains an ever growing number of ideas and thoughts relating to using curiosity as a way of stimulating literacy.

Sue Dixon