Teach Your Child Critical Thinking Skills

Christopher and Devon
Christopher and his brother, Devon, were faced with a problem. When trying to play together, they did not get along. They would either begin arguing or complaining to their mother, causing stress within the family.

Rather than dictate a solution, the boys’ mother wanted the children to try to solve the problem together. They sat down and discussed the dilemma. "What are some ways we could solve this problem?" She asked. Both boys started talking at once, each sure that he had the "right" solution. Ideas centered on punishment of the other sibling. "Well, these are certainly some suggestions for solving the problem," their mother stated. "I wonder if either of you can come up with any ideas that would help, without punishing." At first there was silence. After a few moments the boys started coming up with suggestions. Some were positive solutions and some were "silly."

After writing down the ideas, the mother chose a few possibilities that she felt were the most promising. The children looked at those possibilities and together listed the pros and cons of each. Sometimes they needed help figuring out both pros and cons, but their mother helped them with this. After looking at both sides of each possible solution, the boys, with guidance, chose the solution they felt was the best. The boys’ mother had helped her children to make a realistic and thoughtful decision that was backed by important reasons.

Emma
Emma loved geography. Her parents had a large globe in the family room and there were many maps in the house. Emma loved to study these and learned the location of many countries. Her parents would happily answer her questions and together, they learned about many different countries—not only where they were located, but what kind of people lived there, what their families were like, and some history of the various areas.