How to Develop Critical Thinking? A necessary skill for a child’s future!
Critical thinking is an indispensable skill that lets a child analyze the problem at hand, evaluate the possible solutions, and solve it systematically. The ability to think critically will benefit the child throughout their life. Critical thinking encourages the child to find better solutions and hence always remain ahead in the league. Learning to think critically is an important part of a child’s development and should be introduced as early as possible. But how do we, as parents and as teachers, introduce this habit of critical thinking or problem-solving in young kids?
Below are the 5 ways in which you can stimulate your child into thinking critically.
1. Ask questions
Asking questions triggers thinking and is a mentally stimulating activity. Do not just ask questions on ‘What’ as it only provides the answers to the content knowledge of the child but rather ask more of ‘Why’ and ‘How’. Putting questions like:
‘Why do you think you did this step?’ while solving a problem or
‘How do you think you are going to proceed towards the solution?’
will motivate them to think and re-think their solutions. Such questions not only provide information on what the child knows but whether he can apply the knowledge as well.
2. Do not jump into providing solutions
Never spoon-feed the child with the answer if you see them stuck while solving a problem. Today’s parents lean on helping the child whenever they find them in a problem. This not only hinders their thinking process and persistence but also it makes the child look for easily available solutions, be it from their parents or friends.
3. Do not disapprove of the child’s mistake
Encourage children to make mistakes. If they look worried that making mistake is a wrong thing, then talk to them and let them know that it is ok to make mistakes. Turn their mistakes into learning opportunities and cultivate an environment where there is no fear of answering wrong. When they make a mistake, ask them to take a step back and analyze why the answer was wrong and how it could be fixed. So whenever they make mistakes, trigger their thinking process so that they find the correct solution themselves.
4. Open-ended activities
Open-ended activities are another great way to inspire children into systematic problem-solving. For open-ended activities, start with teaching the concepts and giving ideas on what has to be done in the activity, leaving the design and implementation of the solution to them. Let them find their way through. These open-ended activities are also a good way to find whether a child needs additional support and guidance on the topic.
5. Free Play
Allow free-play time for children where they decide on the activity. Do not instruct them on what is to be done but just provide them with a blank canvas and let them bring their imagination to play. All children are creative and this free playtime will let them enjoy the content/subject you want to teach.
We at Turing Ninjas motivate children into critical thinking and not just follow rote content learning. Our carefully curated programs provide opportunities for them to be involved in problem-solving by absorbing all the above methods in our teaching styles.
Want to find out how and what we teach? Register for a trial class at Turing Ninjas.
