Comments on: So You Want Your Child To Succeed? Here's How

By: Tracy

Tracy — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 22:27:48 +0000

Good advice! I wish more education policy would take it to heart. As it stands, I think U.S. education has become far too test-driven, which quashes critical thinking and love of learning. I put my son in a Montessori specifically because I felt it was the one option (apart from homeschooling) that wouldn’t smother his deep love of science or neglect reading/writing/math, etc.

I recently had a disagreement with a parent, who thought that the school’s “interest fair” was inferior to an old-school science fair. To my mind, a kid creating and presenting a deep-learning, critical project on any topic gives them more preparation for scientific work than everyone sticking to science subjects, whether it’s what motivates them or not.

By: Sean McCorkle

Sean McCorkle — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 14:15:06 +0000

Good reasoning, thinking and math skills are important, and require sustained work and diligence to master.

But thats not the most important thing. What’s really important is to impart the sheer pleasure of learning, the wonder of discovering, and the ecstasy of understanding as things of value in their lives. And above all else, natural curiosity should be treasured and nurtured and never discouraged. (Read Sagan’s “The Demon Haunted World” for his views of how parents and society unnaturally suppress our innate urge to ask questions).

Take them to museums, planetariums, aquariums, national and state parks, mountains, oceans and deserts. Look at the sky with them, watch clouds as storms form. Show them the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter through a telescope. Let them ask questions and encourage more. Ask them questions. If you can’t answer theirs, try to come up with a plan to find the answer together. When possible, try to answer their questions by demonstration or experiment; when appropriate, encourage them to do the same on their own. Encourage them to climb hills if they want to know what’s on the other side. Take them to the library and let them check out books that might be interesting.

Once the child knows of the pleasures to be had, they will already be motivated to do the hard work.

By: Josh Rosenau

Josh Rosenau — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 21:50:49 +0000

Also have your kids and your kids’ teachers spend time at understandingscience.org. Lots of great content, some specifically designed to be used with specific grade levels. Use that as a resource to help guide kids to see how science and critical thinking can be applied to all sorts of claims, not just in the science classroom or in a science book or video. Teach kids to question authority (and to distinguish authority from expertise), to expect people to answer “I don’t know” when they don’t, and to expect “but here’s how we can find out” to come immediately after such an acknowledgment.

By: Scientist, Mom « Anne Peattie

Scientist, Mom « Anne Peattie — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 21:40:54 +0000

[...] Kirshenbaum tells parents to focus on critical thinking if they want kids to get interested in science. ETA: Not official #scimom posts but recent and [...]

By: kirk

kirk — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 15:50:29 +0000

I had ‘arranged friendships’ for my children on the advice of an adolescent/pre-adolescent psychologist. Nothing – absolutely nothing – beat surrounding my three sons with others there same age who had parents as engaged as I was in immersing my children in not only critical thinking but skeptical living. Not every comrade I picked passed the likeability test but just keep pushing friends on them in a structured was. And Boy Scouts works like a charm. I found a troop with a bunch of hippy liberals – that is pretty easy to do in Austin but there is some group or organization out there that organizes fun with a solid group of peers. Read lots of books and discuss the universe at the dinner table. But surround the child with the very best cohort available.

By: Carol

Carol — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 15:40:35 +0000

Critical thinking also involves research and analysis and logic skills. Logic can be taught at an early age. Research and analysis come later, but are invaluable.

By: Sheril Kirshenbaum

Sheril Kirshenbaum — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 15:06:41 +0000

@1 Georg,
Yes, learning languages and more generally, developing an appreciation of other cultures is great advice.

@2 Don,
Critical thinking is difficult to define, but easy to recognize. It involves creativity, curiosity, and sometimes skepticism.

By: So You Want Your Child To Succeed? Here’s How « simply life

So You Want Your Child To Succeed? Here’s How « simply life — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:59:00 +0000

[...] So You Want Your Child To Succeed? Here’s How. [...]

By: Don

Don — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:23:59 +0000

What is critical thinking? How do you distinguish it from uncritical thinking?

By: Georg

Georg — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:02:54 +0000

“”focus on critical thinking” is ok, but
then on second place is :

let them learn things needing a good learning ability first!.

Children learn languages so easy, do not waste time for
things they can learn later with good success.
And last but not least: they should learn things they like
and are interested in.