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Critical
thinking and your homeschooler-When homeschooling there is a
great deal of room to add things that you feel are important but
that may not be a part of a boxed curriculum. Critical
thinking exercises are just one example of a skill you might
like to add.
Since this particular skill doesn’t have a set curriculum it can
be difficult to figure out how to add it to your school day, or
even figure out why you should. |
In our homeschool we decided to add
critical thinking in order to help our children reason through things
and understand arguments better. In college they will be continually
asked to defend a hypothesis and in life they will always be asked to
defend their beliefs. For me, adding critical thinking skills was simply
one way to help equip them for the world they would enter after
homeschool.
The words “critical thinking” can also sound very intimidating to
some parents but in our homeschool it would be more accurate to call it
“thinking logically”. There are many opportunities to use this.
Below is an example of a conversation I had with my seven year old just
this past week:
Daughter: I think my friend is at camp.
Me: Did your friend tell you she was going to camp?
Daughter: No, I just think she’s there.
Me: What are you basing that assumption on?
Daughter: What does ash-shun-sun mean?
Me: It means why do you think your friend is at camp?
Daughter: I just do.
Me: Then that is simply your opinion. To draw a conclusion you have to
have some basis in fact. For example, if daddy went to the fire station
for drills Tuesdays from 6pm-9pm and you came home on a Tuesday at 7pm
where would you assume daddy was?
Daughter: At the fire station.
Me: Right. But if I came home on a Thursday and said “I think daddy is
golfing” do I have any facts I can base that on?
Daughter: No.
Me: And that is the difference between just guessing about something and
drawing conclusions.
That is almost verbatim a conversation I had on the way to church last
Sunday morning. See, Critical thinking is nothing more than explaining
to our kids how we came to a conclusion and teaching them to do the same
in their life. Don’t let the name intimidate you. It is nothing more
than helping your kids think.
See this resource for more on
Critical Thinking.
Theseus to teach
your children how to think, instead of what to think, than one of the
materials that you can use is Theseus. This provides homeschool software
that leads to natural strategic and critical thinking for children. This
software has been tested and has scientifically proven that it can boost
critical thinking capacities in children of all ages.
BRAIN-athon
Emporium has hundreds of Educational Games to help develop and
challenge logic and reasoning skills, and a complete line of products
from The Critical Thinking Company. You will also find books, manipulatives, classroom
supplies, kits, and programs that will empower your
children to be successful in academics and in LIFE! |
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