Ways to raise a critical thinker by Ashley Sonderlund
Four Ways to Raise a Critical Thinker: Teach Your Child How to Think, Not What to Think by Ashley Sonderlund
When I was teaching college students I was often surprised at how little they knew about the process of thinking.
I found that they had a lack of self-awareness when it came to their own thoughts, how the brain works, how to learn, and how to study.
The ability to think about thoughts is called metacognition and it develops across your lifetime.
When children move from egocentric thinking to being able to take another person’s perspective, they are just beginning to develop metacognition.
The next step is realizing that they can change their own thinking. When they get frustrated and stuck on a problem they will have to change how they are thinking about that problem to solve it.
Teaching Children About Metacognition Helps Them Develop Self-Resilience
Being able to change one’s perspective to solve a problem is a life skill. The life skill of getting unstuck is vastly underrated. To be able to approach a problem in different ways is true innovation — a trait we prize, but we don’t focus on how it develops. We just assume some people have this ability, this innate talent.
In truth, we can raise children who are aware of their thinking, we can encourage our children to engage in flexible thinking and innovative thought — it is not something children are just born with, it is something we can help them develop.
Let’s raise children who are critical thinkers — who do not simply accept something put before them. That when faced with a “truth,” they have more questions than answers.
Let’s raise children who are innovators. Children who try something in a different way, a new way, maybe a better way.
Let’s raise children who are able to think for themselves and who accept others who think differently from them. Who recognize that different ways of thinking will often bring people together to solve a problem.
To do that, children need to understand the process of thought — to be able to think about thinking — metacognition.
Principles of Critical and Flexible Thinking
How I think might be different than how someone else thinks.
The brain grows and changes. It is plastic.
Some of the best discoveries have happened because of mistakes.
There are many ways to solve a problem.
Four Ways to Raise a Critical Thinker: Teach Your Child How to Think, Not What to Think
1. When your child asks you how or why, you answer with, “what do you think?”
I am amazed by the theories my son has come up with for how things work.
One of our favorite hypothesis testing games, when my son was younger, was will it float or sink? Simply fill up a bowl with water and have your child guess if different things will float or sink. Ask them why they believe their hypotheses and help them test their ideas and revise their theories.
Every time your child asks a “why” question, ask them what they think. Then have a conversation. Children go through the “why” phase for a reason. It is up to us to ask them the same question — why–“why do you think that?”
2. Let Them Do it Themselves
“When you teach a child something you take away forever his chance of discovering it for himself.” - Jean Piaget
It is so hard not to step in when they struggle. I catch myself doing this all the time with little things. But if we do it with the little things, they expect it for the big things. I have to consciously make myself step back. And if my son does ask for help, I try to help him with the next step instead of solving the whole problem. This philosophy works from everything from opening a yogurt to math homework.
3. Encourage Thinking in Different Ways
When your child is stuck on a problem suggest other ways of thinking about it. Say, “Let’s think about it in a different way.”
I remember when my son was 3-years-old and used to get so frustrated with his blocks. I would hold myself back and more often than not, he would persevere.
But on one particularly frustrating tower building session, my husband said, “which block do you think it would be best to start with to make your tower stronger — this block standing up or this wider block laying down? Which one gives a better foundation?”
And ever since that day, my son thinks carefully about the base or foundation of every single one of his structures. He thinks critically about how to build a strong structure.
4. Read Books about the Brain, Thinking, Problem-solving, Mistakes, and Perseverance
Books are an amazing way to open the window to metacognition. Any book that shows what the character is thinking or goes through the process of solving a problem, ideally in a unique way, will make an impression on your child and promote critical and innovative thinking.
I think too often our children get the message that there is only one correct answer and that conformity is the rule.
Then one day, real-life happens and suddenly there will no longer be a “right” answer.
Reading books that give different messages about thinking is so important to counteract that pressure on perfection, conformity, and the single right answer.
About Ashley Soderlund Ph.D.
Hi! As a mom and a child psychologist who spent over 15 years studying children’s emotional development, I am excited to share science-backed tips and tools with you so that you can thrive as a parent.
I know that good parenting is a combination of instincts and learning. Sometimes new knowledge helps you trust your instincts, and sometimes it gives you a new perspective. As we grow and learn, so do our kids.
“Wealth consists in not having great possessions, but in having few wants”