How do I teach a child logic and critical thinking?

[dookie1481]

He's too young now (4 years old), but as soon as I feel he has the capability to understand, I want to teach him how to think critically and how to use logic.

This, IMO, is the greatest failure of our educational system. We have a country full of people who believe in things like Power Balance bands (http://www.powerbalance.com/australia/ca) and Homeopathic medicine despite there being overwhelming evidence (and plain common sense) that they are worthless. I don't want my kids to end up like this. My father taught me to be a skeptic, question authority, and not to take things at face value.

My question is this: is there a book, or video, or anything related that would be a good introduction to critical thinking for kids?

Jay

[Business_Casual]

Chess

Greek, Latin

Math

Music

Develop the brain, instill good values and the rest will follow

[Belmont31R]

Not sure the exact answer to your question but I get my twin boys (4yo) to do things themselves and figure out to get what they want. If they come to me wanting me to do something or fix something for them I tell them to do it. Not just brushing them off but getting them to fix things on their own.



They are actually in a class called early learning environment (ELE) through our local elementary school because they developed "twin language" and fell about a year behind when they first started. Now they are expecting them to start kindergarten on time. But the teachers are great, and they have given us some good tips in teaching kids...think about the 5 w's....who, what, when, why, where. Around this age (pre-k) its a good thing to focus on since often times kids will only grasp 1 or 2 of those things.

[dookie1481]

Not sure the exact answer to your question but I get my twin boys (4yo) to do things themselves and figure out to get what they want. If they come to me wanting me to do something or fix something for them I tell them to do it. Not just brushing them off but getting them to fix things on their own.

Yeah I do that too...I try to show him, instead of doing things for him.

Maybe the way I'm looking at this is a bit too advanced for a child, but it is good to start early, I suppose.

B_C, why Greek and Latin?

[pilotguyo540]

it may sound cruel, but a good old fashioned case of red ass really went a long way to teach me about consequence, and thus critical thinking.

Stay engaged.

BC made some good suggestions. (I wish I would have taken Latin!!!) I would add that you should ask questions constantly and not accept brain dead answers. For example: "Whatcha' doin?" "Nuthin."

If your dad taught you these things, I would suggest the most natural thing you will do as a dad. Copy your Dad. Look at it as falling back on your training. My disclaimer for this, is that your dad had to have been a good dad for this advise to be taken seriously.

[500grains]

B_C, why Greek and Latin?


Greek and Latin helped develop John Stuart Mill's brilliance.

[pilotguyo540]

Yeah I do that too...I try to show him, instead of doing things for him.

Maybe the way I'm looking at this is a bit too advanced for a child, but it is good to start early, I suppose.

B_C, why Greek and Latin?

They are our base languages. Latin is the language of medicine and religion. I never thought about Greek too much, but language skills are very important in life. Think of it as a foundation. Advanced language skills help you quantify ideas more precisely to better think your way through things.

[Business_Casual]

Because otherwise they'll end up reading shit such as "Grapes of Wrath" instead of original thinking.

[SteyrAUG]

Original Star Trek series, pay attention to the Spock guy.

Seriously though, it doesn't have so much to do with the books he reads or the games he plays. I know far too many educated people who believe completely silly shit and willingly suspend all intelligence in order to entertain completely ridiculous conspiracy theories and fabricated history.

The best thing you can do for your son is teach him to think for himself, do his own research and don't simply accept things because it is told to him or in a book. When you realize there is a organized effort to deceive you on any given subject one quickly adopts reason, logic and rational thinking.

It only took a few instances of discovering my school books were in error or grossly incomplete for me to start down that logical road.

[mr_smiles]

I personally don't believe you can teach a child logical/critical thinking, or in laymen terms common ****ing sense :D.

Maybe it's the fluoride in the water, maybe the mercury in our teeth... Not sure but either you're born with it or not.

But I also don't think you can judge whether or not a child has common sense, children are defiant by nature as they should be. It's what helps them grow and become independent. And some times that defiance over rules common sense and gets them in to trouble.

[HES]

How do you teach your child these abilities? Simple; leadership by example. Explain to your son or daughter why you make the decisions you make (but don't explain yourself to them). 4 is by no means too young to start teaching them.

[Preferred User]

Not for a 4YO, however you may find the examples from a class I took many moons ago useful at some future point:

The Voice of Reason: Fundamentals of Critical Thinking (http://www.amazon.com/Voice-Reason-Fundamentals-Critical-Thinking/dp/0195141229), Burton F. Porter

The Thinking Reader (http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Reader-James-Koobatian/dp/0534505856/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295418123&sr=1-1), James Koobatian

Critical Thinking PowerPoint (https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://users.ipfw.edu/wellerw/critical_thinking.ppt)

The Role of Thinking in Critical Thinking (https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://users.ipfw.edu/caseldij/PowerPoint/Introduction%2520to%2520Critical%2520Thinking.ppt)

[YVK]

He's too young now (4 years old), but as soon as I feel he has the capability to understand, I want to teach him how to think critically and how to use logic.


I have a very strong belief that early exposure to constructive games - Lego-like constructors, toys that require putting them together etc. - and massive amount of reading is THE key. You want kids try to do something that requires multiple consecutive steps that lead somewhere so they can see a continuum of events. Reading to them makes them follow the plot, trying to understant cause-effect - even if you're reading fairy tales. Exposure to new things that attract their attention and reinforces natural curiosity.

My kid was playing with swallow-safe constructors since he could stand. He had a ton of different toys that required active engagement. My wife didn't work for 3 years reading him books, and I read him Car and Driver while he was looking at all that colorful pictures.
He never had a B from K to 12, even though I never demanded grades. In 5 or 6 grade, almost fully on his own, he wrote an essay on logistic fallacy of gun control - when we lived in northern burbs of Chicago with draconian gun laws all around us. Perfect ACT, perfect SAT score while remaining a normal kid - and I fully attribute all that to early exposure to constructive and creative games, a lot of parental reading and happy childhood.

[Belmont31R]

I have a very strong belief that early exposure to constructive games - Lego-like constructors, toys that require putting them together etc. - and massive amount of reading is THE key. You want kids try to do something that requires multiple consecutive steps that lead somewhere so they can see a continuum of events. Reading to them makes them follow the plot, trying to understant cause-effect - even if you're reading fairy tales. Exposure to new things that attract their attention and reinforces natural curiosity.

My kid was playing with swallow-safe constructors since he could stand. He had a ton of different toys that required active engagement. My wife didn't work for 3 years reading him books, and I read him Car and Driver while he was looking at all that colorful pictures.
He never had a B from K to 12, even though I never demanded grades. In 5 or 6 grade, almost fully on his own, he wrote an essay on logistic fallacy of gun control - when we lived in northern burbs of Chicago with draconian gun laws all around us. Perfect ACT, perfect SAT score while remaining a normal kid - and I fully attribute all that to early exposure to constructive and creative games, a lot of parental reading and happy childhood.




I think Ive posted before my kids are big into Lego's....in fact one of them, Cameron, is HUGE into Star Wars Legos and has been for a couple years. They put them together, and build things with them. They roll play different characters, ect. Its a great way to teach kids different roles for different people, how to put things together themselves, ect.

[rob_s]

IT IS NEVER TOO EARLY!

I live in one of the worst areas in the world for molly-coddled little brats, the lion's share of which have gone on to continue to live off the parent's teet well into their 20s and 30s. Boca is a failed social experiment in child rearing. Interestingly Boca has a lot in common with Haiti: both are clear evidence of the danger of giving someone something instead of making them work for it.

Belmont hits it right on the head, teach them to fish don't give them a fish.

In my time here in Boca I have seen amazing examples of parents doing all sorts of mundane shit for their kids, and marveled at the fact that they don't seem to see ANYTHING wrong with it. I've seen kids in a store reaching up to grab something on a shelf, often something that they really have no business grabbing to begin with, and the parent walks over and grabs the item that is a mere inches from the child's grasp and handed it to them! That is ****ing child abuse! Do that often enough and you will ruin that human being. Seriously, factor the expenses for supporting that person well into your retirement.

One of our neighbors is currently working, past retirement age, in spite of the fact that their house is completely paid off, just to support his two kids who are 30+ years old!

Sorry for getting so worked up. I feel like Jane Goodall amongst the chimps here, and what I've seen of modern child rearing here has me convinced that we are raising a generation of Haitians, dependent on someone else because nobody ever taught them how to fend for themselves. It will absolutely be our undoing. The good news is that if the wheels don't come off the truck in your child's lifetime and instead we stay on the road until after he's gone, he will be a giant among men if you teach him to think, and more importantly DO, for himself.

[Sry0fcr]

I wouldn't worry too much about forcing it down their throats there's no book or pamphlet that they're going to pick up and learn it from. Focus instead on leading by example and being a good teacher. Boys will usually mimic their fathers (if they have one and their mothers God help them if they don't). I've got one of my own and one that I inherited that was raised without a male role model for the first 6 years of his life and I'm having a hell of a time getting him to switch on his brain (think and do for himself) and cut the umbilical cord from his mom. Slowly but surely...

[VooDoo6Actual]

Repitition & patience

[rat31465]

With my own children and now with my two Grandsons, I think about all that can be done is to try and teach them to make good decisions for themselves and then live with the consequences of their actions....whether they are good or bad.

[ST911]

I involve my children in everything possible that can be done safely and is age appropriate. More correctly, cognitively and maturity appropriate. Age is just a number.

Read to them until you can't stand it. When they can read, they read to you. Read the usual kid books, progressing to the older and more complex stories and non-fiction. You'd be surprised what they're capable of understanding.

Build models, legos, blocks, tinker toys, things they have to build to play with. Do puzzles, science sets, math games, puzzle books, etc.

Teach them to shoot!

Consequences... Most parents lack follow-through. Set standards, give kids the tools to meet them, and use the teachable moments thereafter as they explore and experiment thereafter. Sometimes, logic and understanding works. Sometimes, it will be red-ass. Know when to use each, and in what amounts.

[Skyyr]

.....

[ForTehNguyen]

ive learned a lot of critical thinking and decision making form playing certain video games for many years. Have to play the ones that will challenge the player.

[6933]

A good first step is to buy a well-known, quality text book that describes the stages of cognitive development. This way you are not trying to teach something that a child is unable to grasp yet. Child Development: It's Nature and Course is an excellent book. I used it as a textbook in college and learned it is widely praised. Well written and easy to understand. At your child's age, you are beginning to see conservation, classification, seriation, and transitive inference. Sounds like Greek, but it's quite simple.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=child+development+It's+nature+and+course&x=19&y=16

[Smuckatelli]

He's too young now (4 years old),

Jay,

He isn't too young now, before you start going into KIM games and so on, start simple.

Have him look for and articulate meanings in songs.

[GermanSynergy]

Keep them away from left wing media outlets.

[rickrock305]

Homeopathic medicine despite there being overwhelming evidence (and plain common sense) that they are worthless.


There's plenty of homeopathic medicine out there that works wonders. IMO its a big reason our country is in the situation we're in, everyone jumps to drugs instead of eating healthy and home remedies like the old days. (That being said, there is certainly plenty of snake oil as well) But I've known people that beat cancer with homeopathic remedies when the traditional medicine route told them there was nothing they could do but wait 6 months and die.

As for your question, I'd say first and foremost to developing an intelligent child is reading to them. Read to your kids every night before bed.

And having them figure things out on their own and doing things for themselves. If they ask a question, respond with a question of your own to let them lead themselves to the answer. Don't just give them the answer outright, let them figure it out with your help. Show them how to do things for themselves and expect them to do it. Like chores for example. Even at 4 or 5 years old, there are little things they can be responsible for and at that age they usually still enjoy them!

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Repitition & patience

What he said, especially the first part.



Greek and Latin helped develop John Stuart Mill's brilliance.

I took Latin. Care to qualify your statement more? :D

I don't think it was so much the Latin I took, but the Jesuit attached to the Latin text book. My dad was Jesuit educated also and as a kid he was always questioning everything I said and making me defend my positions. I come out of business meeting now where my peers think it was interrogation, and I tell them it was like Sunday dinner.

I constantly ask my 6 year old "Why do you think that is?" to see where his thought process is.

[rickrock305]

Keep them away from left wing media outlets.


I hope you're just joking.

If not, thats pretty sad. I think kids should be exposed to all points of view, even ones you may disagree with politically.

[dookie1481]

There's plenty of homeopathic medicine out there that works wonders.

So the less of an active ingredient in your medicine, the more potent it is? That makes sense?


IMO its a big reason our country is in the situation we're in, everyone jumps to drugs instead of eating healthy and home remedies like the old days. (That being said, there is certainly plenty of snake oil as well)

I agree with this.