Critical thinking is an essential skill for children to develop. It gives them the ability to work on a range of different subjects in school, allow them to play with others, work on their overall performance and improve their confidence. You’d be surprised at how many skills purely rely on your own critical thinking skills!
To help your own child with their critical thinking, here’s some advice from this pre-school in Lincoln.
Allow them to make small decisions
A child should be able to make their own choices from a young age, with the chance to explore what they want to do in their days. Have your child decide what they want to do on the weekend for example, or have them choose a series of games they want to play within a day. It gives children the chance to feel excited about what they pick out to do and they’re more likely to have some fun with it.
Pause, and wait
When asking your child open-ended questions, allow them time to think about it for a while instead of jumping in straight away with what you feel is the “right answer”. What they say the first time might not be the best answer at the time, but your child is trying to have a go, and this should be facilitated where possible. Time is often the best test of how your child can handle different situations.
Give your child chores
Children can be given a handful of chores from a young age that allows them to understand how to keep a house clean in the most efficient and effective ways. Over time, your child is practicing to think critically, even if they don’t believe they are. They’re working on how to best tackle something while also thinking about the prospect of a reward afterwards, and make them become better people to rely on.
