Helping Your Child Develop Critical Thinking Skills

Thinking critically is one of life’s most important skills for the number of situations where you have to focus and come up with a solution quickly. As adults it’s second nature, but in children there are different ways for them to develop these skills.

Critical thinking allows your child to analyse and judge a situation, how it can be interpreted and how you’re able to assess situations. In this guide, courtesy of this private girls school in London, we’ll show you how to guide your child through and learn how to develop critical thinking skills.

Ask your child questions about different scenarios

Converse with them on how they would act if something would happen that stopped and caused them to think hard about their next steps. It can be as simple as making a mistake when painting something, or making a mess at the dinner table – ask them what happens next and see what they say.

Keep these questions open-ended so that your child has a chance to think about what they might say, and it doesn’t make them feel shy about their answers either.

Encourage different ways of thinking

It’s not always black and white, so why would we encourage our children to think that way? This is an opportunity for them to think outside the box, as well as boosting their critical thinking. You can ask your child, “sure, that option does work, but what other ways could we fix this?” or “are there any other ways this could work?”

Ensure there is balance

Make sure there is plenty of time for your child to be involved in other activities like play time and socialising with others. There are plenty of ways critical thinking is employed in their usual play time and how they react around other people. This gives them the chance to test what they have already developed and how it can be improved.

Laura x