Our children’s ability to expand their memory
is greatly impacted by all of this technology,
which affects their thinking skills.

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any conflicts they found. Instead, this
new “search and find” process completely
eliminated any need for critical thinking.

Finally, a study in the journal Science
showed that when people know they have
future access to information, they no longer
need to recall or analyze it. Our children’s
ability to expand their memory is greatly
impacted by all of this technology, which
affects their thinking skills.

We are all in big trouble if our children
lose the ability to think critically. It is up to
us to help them develop a critical mindset
throughout their childhood. By instilling
critical thinking skills from an early age, we
will teach our kids how to effectively analyze
the world around them. Here are some ways
that you can enhance your children’s critical
thinking skills at home.

Read books
for fun
Read with your children daily and discuss
the material with them in ways that will
challenge them to think critically. See if they
can make connections between the story and
their own life. Ask them to use what they
have read so far to predict what will happen
next. Have them summarize the key points
of the story or chapter so they can determine
what is most important. What roles did each
character play and how do they relate to
them? All of this practice with fun stories
will help them analyze more challenging
pieces of literature, both fiction and non-
fiction, as they get older.

Explore Science
Show them how
to answer their
own questions and
evaluate information
Young children have tons of questions. Take
advantage of their curiosity to teach them
how to look for answers to their questions
in a critical way. If they ask how something
works, take a trip to the library and find
books, magazines, videos and other resources
on that topic. Provide opportunities for
them to speak to people who can give them
direct answers. For example, if they want to
know what a fireman does, schedule a trip to
the local fire station so your child can learn
firsthand how everything works. When your
children are doing research online, sit with
them and help them find reliable sources.

Also, show them the difference between
evidence-based information and opinions.

Build problem-
solving skills
When dealing with conflicts, our children
need to use critical thinking skills to
understand the problem at hand and to
come up with possible solutions. Use games,
puzzles, riddles, mystery novels, physical
challenges and other activities to teach them
problem solving skills.

Force them to
memorize basic
information In order to exercise your kid’s memory
muscle, you can go a bit retro on them.

Make sure they know some basic facts by
heart like their address and important
Science experiments and other related phone numbers. As they get older, continue
activities are fantastic ways to teach children to add more facts to this list like relatives’
how to think critically because they need to birthdays, math equations, state capitals
make predictions, evaluate data and then and American presidents. Also, see if they
interpret the scientific facts and findings to can give directions from home to school and
other places you frequent.

relate them to the world around them.

FEYNMAN SCHOOL:
ASK OPEN-ENDED
QUESTIONS BY JARRAD SAFFREN
How do you get kids to think
critically? Make them ponder
long, hard and creatively about
the answer to a question, says
Stephen Harris, a middle school
STEM teacher at the Feynman
School in Potomac.

Some of Harris’ eighth graders,
for example, are learning about
biology and viruses. So he asks,
“Are viruses alive?” It sounds like a
yes or no, but really, the answer is
complicated. It requires research
on the virus and a consideration of
the meaning of life. Then, students
have to write papers offering up
their detailed opinions.

“One of the things that I find
very helpful is giving open-
ended problems with multiple
solutions,” Harris says. “I usually
find that kids will rise to the
occasion, and I’m pleasantly
surprised by the work they do.”
Harris says that when you
motivate kids to think, instead of
to regurgitate information, they
become more energetic about
learning. And, as a result, their
brains start working faster and in
more creative ways. Parents can
do this just like teachers do.

“Anytime you can actively
engage your child’s brain, it’s a
good thing,” Harris explains. 2
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