Helping Your Child Develop Critical Thinking Skills

Critical thinking skills form a fundamental part of your child’s educational development. These skills allow children to make sense of information and make logical decisions independently.

Being a critical thinker will not only help your child academically, but it will also benefit their personal lives too. So, how can you help your child to develop critical thinking skills…?

I have teamed up with an independent boys’ school in Kent to share some advice.

Let them explore

There is no right or wrong way to teach your child how to think critically. Most importantly, you will need to give them space to make decisions and solve problems without you being there to save the day every time. Allow them to experiment and explore, because this will help them begin to understand cause and effect. This exploration and play should be available to children both indoors and outdoors, so that their development is approached holistically.

Ask questions

Ask your child lots of open-ended questions to enhance their inquisitive nature. Show your child that you are genuinely interested in their thoughts and opinions by saying things like “I’m really interested to hear what you think”. Give your child plenty of time to come to conclusions on their own and let them think deeply about things before helping them with the answers. If you think what they have said is wrong, encourage them to give it some more thought by saying something like “What other ideas could we try?” – This will help to open their minds to different options and solutions.

Mix up your routine

Another way to encourage critical thinking is by taking your child out of their comfort zone. Start by making some simple changes to their usual routine. These changes will help to stimulate your child’s curiosity and encourage them to experiment and try new things. For example, you could ask them to help you cook a new recipe for dinner or you could allow them to enjoy some messy play in the garden.

There are lots of other ways you can promote critical thinking within your home. The best way to start is by being a good role model!

Thanks for reading xxx