Children Learning to Think Critically Aged Six!

by lifelong humanist 8 Replies latest jw experiences

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  lifelong humanist

  Yesterday, I started a thread about learning how to thinking critically.

  So, imagine my surprise when last night my eldest son phoned to say that his son, my grandson, wanted to speak with my wife and I about a project he had to do at his school. He has just turned 6 years old. The project involved asking his parents and then grandparents questions about how things when they were a similar age.

  I said that I'd be happy to speak with him, and answer his questions as best I could. I apologized that his gran was out at her Thursday night church meeting, so wasn't available to help. (I think he had a deadline for first thing this morning, so by the time she got home, he'd be sound asleep in bed).

  So, it was just me that was available. I found it interesting that he wanted more than just one word answers to his list of questions, but involved giving reasons for them. For example:

  First question - What was your favourite toy when you were my age? Then the follow-up question - What made it seem so special to you? Then even more in-depth stuff - What did you like about it? Then - What did you not like, etc.

  Second question - Where did you go to school aged 6? What was your school like? How long was the school day? Were you tired at the end of the day? How did you get there? As I had to walk to school, there was a follow-up question about how far I had to walk, how long it took, etc. Did I go on my own? What can you remember about your teachers?

  What type of transportation did you have in your family? As we didn't have a car in our family, the follow-on questions were quite clever! - Why did you not have a car? So, how did you get about?

  I quite enjoyed answering. His dad wrote down some of my answers as he's still a bit too young to make the notations himself, particularly the more expansive answers that he was looking for to fulfil his project.

  Sounds to me that his school are trying to get young minds thinking about more than just answers, but the reasons behind them - a bit more like discovering why we do what we do, and how it involves others...

  lifelong humanist
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  ambersun

  Sounds to me that his school are trying to get young minds thinking about more than just answers, but the reasons behind them - a bit more like discovering why we do what we do, and how it involves others...

  That is brilliant!

  Let's hope other schools are doing this too.
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  digderidoo

  Fantastic
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  wobble

  There is hope !

  if only I had been taught to use CT properly at an early age I would not have wasted decades of my life in the WT/JW cult.
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  Broken Promises

  Smart kid! Hopefully this skill will stay with him throughout his life.
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  pbrow

  my daughters school is doing something similar, my 7 year old had to call her grandmother with a list of questions and more importantly the follow up questions. my jdub mother really enjoyed the interview and your right, getting the "why" and "how" is so important.

  pbrow
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  PSacramento

  I remeber the first project like that, that Sofia ( my eldest) brought home, it was grade one too.

  I remember 2 questions were about computers, well 1 was about computers and they other about the internet.

  This year in science class the teacher ( I had the parent-teacher meeting last week) told me she did a speech about evolution and how it effected the world in the past and contiunes to do so today, LOL !

  The teacher brought it up because they were discussing dinosaurs and one of the kids asked why God created dinosaurs and Sofia decided to chime in, LOL !

  She goes to a Catholic school by the way.
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  tec

  My son's schools have always done things like that. They 'why or why not' questions have always been a part of things. Just last week my oldest was working on math problems, and one of the 'bigger' questions was 'could the world survive without negative numbers?'

  Now I didn't have clue, but he thought for a moment... well, anything is possible... and then he went on to write what he thought would happen without them.

  It sounded more like a philosophical question/answer to me.

  Also (sorry) he was watching that commercial for Justin Bieber 'Never say never', and he looked at me and said, 'well he can't really say that then, can he?' I loved that.

  I think schools very much want kids to think critically. (my kids are in a catholic school too, btw)

  Tammy
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  mrsjones5

  The school my youngest two sons attend do something similar also, when the students are in third grade. They also have a grandparents' day along with a program that that the third graders preform for the grandparents.

  I think it's great.