Developing Critical Thinking Skills - article by Good English Article Sites

DEVELOPING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS IS ESSENTIAL TO YOUR CHILD'S SUCCESS

When we send our children off to school, we hope they are receiving education that will ultimately bring them success in life. Unfortunately, one essential aspect of education is often ignored. Too often, students are trained to memorize facts and taught what to think rather than how to think. The difference between 'what' and 'how' may be summarized in a word - analysis.

Developing critical thinking skills makes all the difference in successful education for the long term. You may be surprised to learn that it's never too early to begin teaching this fundamental skill. Parents can set children on the road to success before they ever enter the schoolroom. Developing critical thinking skills pays off for a lifetime.

Sometimes, as parents, we think it's most important to teach obedience and the importance of authority. This mindset can lead to unintentionally discouraging a child from questioning and developing reasoning skills. For example, you tell your toddler to put on his jacket to go to the store. He says, "No!" It's tempting to say, "Just do as you're told, please!". Alternatively, with just a couple of extra remarks, you can use this opportunity to start developing critical thinking skills.

Walk over to the window. "Ooh, it looks cold out there. Looks like it might rain. I don't want to be cold and wet! Do you?" Chances are good the child will agree. He's now learned there are reasons to put the jacket on, for his comfort. Teaching a child to reason and question teaches him to learn and look for more facts.

The same goes for learning to read. In most schools, children are taught to memorize, first short words like cat and dog, moving on to longer and more difficult words. They are seldom taught the different functions of vowels and consonants, or to see for themselves the shape of their mouth making one vowel sound or another. The 'a' in cake forms a different mouth shape than the 'a' in cat. Words ending in consonants usually means the vowel sound is long, whereas words ending in vowels are usually short. This teaching method involves developing critical thinking skills, whereas memorization is simply by rote.

As children learn critical thinking skills, learning becomes more exciting and they begin to want to find out more about a subject on their own. When kids ask, 'Why?' instead of accepting a fact at face value, you've got the beginnings of a successful critical thinker.

When you encourage the development of critical thinking skills all through childhood and into adulthood, you're nurturing an individual who can make informed and responsible choices. All things considered, developing critical thinking skills is one of the most valuable gifts you can give a child!

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