WHEN a child asks a factual question, the automatic response from any parent is to answer it - if they can.

But often, argues the former children’s laureate Michael Rosen, instead of simply being told the answer, a child can learn a lot more by finding out the answer themself.

So if a child asks, “Why is the sky blue?” his mum or dad - even if they know the answer - might do well to say “I don’t know. I wonder how we can find out?”

Bestselling children’s author Rosen explains that much of children’s learning should be about the world around them, and their parents can make that learning much more exciting - and learn a lot themselves in the process - if they point children in the right direction to discover more about it.

To help show mums and dads what he means, Rosen has written a book - for adults, rather than children - called Good Ideas: How To Be Your Child’s (and Your Own) Best Teacher.

In order to be such a teacher, Rosen stresses that the message parents need to give is: “Be curious. There’s nothing out there, whether it’s knowledge, culture, high-brow or low-brow things, that you’re not entitled to.

“The way to knowledge is through parents listening to children’s questions, so they build on their interests and confidence.”

Rosen says that when he was young, like many children, he used various memory techniques to learn things off by heart.

But he points out: “It didn’t teach me how to find things that I really wanted to learn about.

“It didn’t take me down interesting side-alleys where I would find things that I didn’t know I would be interested in until I found them.”

He says such “invisible learning” helps children at school, as a breadth of general knowledge is always useful.

As its name suggests, his book is crammed with good, practical ideas, plus games and activities, for parents to use to capitalise on life’s learning opportunities in a way that’s fun for both them and their children.

It’s asking, explains Rosen: “Where is the stuff we might want to know?”

And the answer is everywhere.

Rosen looks at all areas of life in the book, ranging from the beach, woods and the sky, to railway stations, days out and going abroad on holiday, where exploring the differences and similarities in a foreign land, ranging from language and food, to history and culture, can teach children valuable life lessons.

Good Ideas: How to Be Your Child’s (And Your Own) Best Teacher is published by John Murray Publishing, priced £16.99.