You can find a huge amount of different information on the Internet, and not all of it is reliable.
The ability to look at issues from different angles, not take everything that is said at face value, and draw objective conclusions are important skills that every parent needs to develop in their child.
How to Develop Critical Thinking Skills
If you have to deal with a child, the best way to train critical thinking is through play. This will make the learning process much more exciting for the child.
Working with texts
Choose two texts on the same topic, for example, global warming. Analyze how the authors cover the topic, what differences in their arguments are, and what research they rely on. This exercise will help your child learn to form their own opinion and not be influenced by “outside” influences.
Playing Scientists
Offer your child a statement that he must justify with at least three arguments.
For example, the statement "people cannot live without society." Why is this so? The arguments can be as follows:
- Man is a social being.
- It is important for him to feel needed and belong.
- A person's scientific and creative abilities cannot be realized alone.
Fact or opinion
To play this game, you will need to find an article in which the authors express their assumptions. The child’s task is to determine what is a fact and what is an opinion.
For example, the passage: "Researchers have suggested that the abandoned Incan city of Machu Picchu, a UNESCO World Heritage site, may have actually been called Huayna Picchu." In this example, the fact that the city is a UNESCO World Heritage site is a fact, and the scientists' guess about its name is an opinion.
