Helping Your Child Develop their Critical Thinking Skills

When life hands you lemons, do you make lemonade or store them away for another day? There are lots of difficult choices your child will need to make growing up and they will need to learn to think for themselves and weigh up the pros and cons. This requires what we call “critical thinking” which is the ability to evaluate, analyse and make firm decisions. It can also help children in being more aware of the world around them as opposed to taking what they see and hear at face value. Here are a few things you can do according to a prep school to improve your child’s critical thinking skills.

Pause and Wait

When practicing critical thinking and asking questions, be sure to give your child time and space to think. By pressuring them or making them feel rushed in any way, you stop them from engaging in a deeper level of thinking and exercising their critical thinking skills. Instead, pause and wait so that they have time to think about how to respond instead of offering their initial few thoughts.

The Future

Every decision has its own consequences, whether good or bad. To make the right one, children must learn to look ahead as opposed to making decisions based on the here and now. This is something that parents can do with younger children through play by toying with different ideas and encouraging them to think about the consequences of their actions.

Pros and Cons

To think of pros and cons children must have the ability to think creatively and consider alternative points of view. You can help with this by playing brainstorming games and encouraging them to think in new ways to what they are used to. 

Pocket Money

Pocket money teaches children the concept of hard work, can help instil good work ethic and introduce children to how things work in the real world. It also gives them the opportunity to make choices for themselves and improve on their critical thinking skills. To buy something with their pocket money for example, children must weigh up the pros and cons of making that decision. For example, by choosing to spend it now, they risk not having savings in the future, or missing out on a good deal if they decide to wait. Neither is right or wrong as they each have their own advantages and disadvantages. This trains children how to deal with such conflicting situations and make decisions that are right for them.

Other Decisions They Can Make

Other than pocket money, parents can give their children the chance to have their say on matters such as what they have for their school packed lunch or watch on TV. 

Dealing with Indecision 

A lack of confidence can affect a child’s ability to make decisions. To help them build faith in themselves, work on developing their confidence, provide them reassurance and encourage them to trust their instincts. 

Asking Questions

If they are unsure of anything, children must know that they can ask questions. It is how we learn and there really is no such thing as a dumb question. It will give them access to more information and thus, the ability to make better decisions.

It is as we’ve mentioned all about practice and prior exposure. With that parents must let go a little and allow children the opportunity to face difficulties. Of course, these should be thought about carefully and appropriate to where they are in their development. Be sure to also not overwhelm your child with more than is necessary as this can make decision making seem scary and confusing, when actually it can be quite fun.