What are critical thinking skills and why is it important that your child masters them? Firstly, critical thinking is quite a complex subject so we’ll break it down. It involves the following skills – understanding, interpreting, analysis, problem-solving and more!
Let’s take a look at what it is and activities to strengthen your child’s critical thinking skills!
What is Critical Thinking?
Critical thinking is the process by which we understand situations, people and ideas.
It’s how the best problem-solvers manage to create new ways of thinking and new responses to old issues. In order to help your child reach a point where their critical thinking skills are well-developed, you need to assist them to –
- Approach a variety of learning situations with an open mind
- To understand there could be more than one right (or wrong) answer
- To begin to search for evidence to support their ideas
- To ask questions based upon that evidence
How can these skills be harnessed?
This nursery in Cobham ensures children experience a wide variety of activities to strengthen your child’s critical thinking skills. Here are some activities which will help you to encourage the above:
- Meccano and Lego building
- Outdoor shelter building
- Model making
- Science in the kitchen
- Gardening
- Building wildlife support systems such as insect hotels, bird cafes and wormeries
When engaging with your child in the above activities, it’s really important that you let them take the lead and most of all that they realise there are no right or wrong answers.
Don’t be tempted to supply the solutions to problems encountered. Ask the child open-ended questions so they know that it’s partly about imagination and not just about knowing the ‘rules’.
Connecting different ideas
Help your child begin to connect different ideas and their relationships. For example, if you’re discussing a serious issue with them such as homelessness, it’s not enough that they understand that some people don’t have anywhere to live. They need to understand the reasons behind this.
Ask them questions which will lead them to make new realisations. For example “Why do you think some people don’t have a home to live in?” Their observations might surprise you. If they’re far from the mark lead them in the right direction but try to avoid giving them the ‘answers’. Let them work it out.
If they say something ridiculous or nonsensical, try to avoid laughing at them unless they’re laughing too. Children have a fear of being ridiculed and if they feel stupid, their critical thinking skills will be curtailed before they’ve even sprouted.
Make it fun! Children love learning when there’s no pressure and once a child’s mind is open to the idea that there are new discoveries around every corner, they’ll soon begin learning alone.
