contributed by Lee Carrolldoctor and updated by The TeachThought staff
Research agrees that the strongest students emerge from homes that support them in the learning process, and below we’ve listed a few ways parents can support students at home.
c 8 science-based strategies for critical thinkingwe looked at ways we can use ‘thinking like a scientist’ to improve our own critical thinking skills. Below we follow this post with a quick read: How to help children think critically at home.
8 ways parents can support critical thinking at home
1. Make critical thinking a habit
Regardless of whether you are critical thinking about the news or thinking critically about music, food, and video games, what matters more than whether students can think critically is whether they will think critically—unprompted and as a matter of habit.
Practicing critical thinking in their “native environment”—at home, with friends, reading texts of their choice, on social media, and more—is a useful strategy for building their cognitive muscles.
See also The effect of parental involvement on academic achievement
2. Debate everything!
Discuss everything!
Science, for example. Debate is useful for several reasons: it helps students consider alternative explanations—good for analyzing experimental results—and it can also develop teens’ natural communication skills. For example, “Should bottled water be banned?” Another useful resource here is NPR’s Intelligence Squared debates.
3. Provide access to diverse, quality reading materials
And then give them time to read them and discuss what they read. Even ask students to make claims based on what they read and support those claims with evidence.
4. Practice motivating claims and evidence
Assertion-evidence-reasoning. When they make a claim, ask for their evidence to build the analytical habit of mind. My dad used to do this every night at dinner. (See #1.)
5. Help them learn from everything
Help them understand that learning is a way of thinking – just like science and critical thinking. They should not just learn from “school” or books, but from nature and conversation, play and observation. Then help them make claims and, as a result, provide evidence for those claims
6. Play games
Video games are a treasure trove of opportunities for critical thinking—if for no other reason than that many students enjoy playing and thinking about them. Read more about learning with video games here
Of course, you don’t have to use video games. Teach them to play chess! Download a chess program or find a chess summer camp. This ancient game proves useful in creating a growth mindset because to be effective, the player must consider alternative moves before choosing the best one. Research also shows that playing chess improves the SAT results.
It also encourages quiet contemplation for an extended period of time without input or external stimulation.
6. Turn critical thinking into a game
Make critical thinking a kind of game. Use Devil’s Advocate playfully to explore alternative perspectives, for example. This is a useful way to make critical thinking a habit.
7. Teach critical thinking as a way of thinking
Understanding that critical thinking is a way of thinking and not just a “skill” can help make it a habit. This is true in part because critical thinking gives reasoning purpose and tone—which can be difficult without the kind of cognitively flexible and creatively playful thinking that critical thinking fosters.
Put another way, critical thinking comes more naturally in some states of mind (playful, safe, curious, and empowered) than in others (directed, observed, coerced, and evaluated).
8. Explore the benefits of critical thinking
And do it in ways that are credible to children, rather than espousing the benefits of critical thinking 25 years from now.
