Critical thinking can be explained as an intellectual process that includes rational thinking and the ability to connect ideas. It also includes independently conceptualizing and applying the ideas which are generated from various incidents, speeches, or observations.
Before going into how to develop or help your child in building their critical thinking abilities it’s very important to know why does it matter?
Why Critical Thinking is Important?
Being a critical thinker, your child will have an asset to utilize their minds to their fullest. Your child will succeed at school and throughout their life. From early childhood to being an adult, this is a skill that will make him or her stand out from the crowd. It’s very important for a child to develop critical thinking skills. The development of critical thinking is best efficient at the time of primary school. As we all know good habits need to start at a young age.
Being a critical thinker, your child can effectively sense the world around them. From asking questions to judging, it will help you in all phases of life.
Researches have suggested that children possessing critical thinking abilities are more likely to do better in problem-solving and IQ tests.
How to develop Critical Thinking?
· Focus on WHY?
For every assertion that your children make ask them Why do they feel like that. Let’s understand this by an example. If your children say “My classmate stole a color box from someone, I think he should return it.” Then you should ask them “Why do you think he should give it back?”
· Teach them about what’s right and what’s wrong
Encourage and evaluate their agreement and disagreement. Give them some imaginable situations through which ask them some questions and then evaluate their thoughts gently.
· Encourage open mindset
Impart a habit of questioning them about their ideas, thoughts, and opinions in a gentle manner. Ask them conditions, examples, counterexamples, why, how, and clarifications.
· Good listening skills
Good listening skills are a very much important thing to develop critical thinking. Make your children a very good listener. It will help them in effectively analyzing the thoughts.
· Don’t intervene immediately
It is very much important to patiently watch their process rather than stepping into it immediately. Avoid finishing the task for your child, teach them or guide them through the flow. It will surely improve their executive functioning skills.
This was all about the best simple but very effective ways to develop the critical thinking of children. You need to be a good role model in order to support your children.
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