How do I help my child develop critical thinking skills?
You develop a child’s critical thinking skills by asking them thought provoking questions for discussion. For example, when you read a fictional story about a person, ask this question: “how does the character change from the beginning of the story to the end?” Then you can give your child the following sentence starters to help them communicate the change.
“In the beginning the main character ……”
“In the middle the main character….”
“In the end, the main character…..”
This will help your child think about the change that happened over time and talk about it in a critical way.
Another strategy when reading a fictional story is to ask the following question: what is the message of the book/story? Then, talk about the message of the story and thereafter ask how it is developed throughout the story. This means, your child needs to point out the different details about the characters and or events of the story that bring out its message. By making this connection children critically think about the relationship between story details and the message they develop.
Here are two book recommendations for you so you can apply the above strategies for your child. See the two books linked below.
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