8 Ways Parents Can Support Critical Thinking at Home

Contributor Lee CarrollPh.D., Updater Teach ideological personnel

Research shows that the best students receive support from their families as they learn, and below we’ve listed a few ways parents can support their students at home.

exist 8 Science-Based Critical Thinking Strategieswe looked at how we can use Think Like a Scientist to improve our own critical thinking skills. Below, we’ll quickly read the post: How to Help Your Kids Think Critically at Home.

8 Ways Parents Can Support Critical Thinking at Home

1. Make critical thinking a habit

whether you are Think critically about the news Or think critically about music, food, and video games. More important than whether students can think critically is whether they will do it spontaneously and as a matter of habit.

Practicing critical thinking in their “native environment”—at home, with friends, reading texts of their own choice, on social media, etc.—is a useful strategy for strengthening cognitive abilities.

See The impact of parental involvement on academic performance

2. Debate everything!

Debate everything!

For example, science. Debate is useful for several reasons: It helps students search for alternative explanations—facilitating analysis of experimental results—and it also develops natural communication skills in teenagers. For example, “Should bottled water be banned?” Another helpful resource is NPR’s Intelligence Squared debate.

3. Provide diverse and high-quality reading materials

Then give them time to read and discuss what they read. Students are even asked to make claims based on what they read and to support those claims with evidence.

4. Practice claiming evidence reasoning

Claim-Evidence-Reasoning. Ask them to provide evidence when they make a claim to develop their analytical habits. My dad does this every night at dinner. (See #1.)

5. Help them learn from everything

Help them realize that learning is a state of mind—and so is science and critical thinking. They do not have to simply learn from “school” or books, but also from nature, conversation, play and observation. Then help them make claims and provide evidence for those claims

6. Play games

Video games are a treasure trove of critical thinking opportunities—if for no other reason, many students enjoy playing and thinking about them. Read more about Video game teaching here.

Of course, you don’t have to use video games. Teach them chess! Download a chess program or find a chess summer camp. This age-old game has been proven to help develop a growth mindset because in order to be effective, players must consider alternative actions before choosing the best action. Research also shows that playing chess can improve SAT scores.

It also encourages long periods of quiet contemplation without input or outside stimulation.

6. Make critical thinking a game

Make critical thinking a game. For example, jokingly use “devil’s advocate” to consider other perspectives. This is a useful way to develop critical thinking habits.

7. Teach critical thinking as a mindset

Understanding that critical thinking is a mindset and not just a “skill” can help it become a habit. Part of the reason this is so is that critical thinking gives purpose and tone to reasoning—which can be difficult without the cognitive agility and creatively playful mindset that facilitates critical thinking.

In other words, critical thinking emerges more naturally in certain mindsets (playfulness, safety, curiosity, and empowerment) than in others (direction, monitoring, forcing, and evaluation).

8. Explore the benefits of critical thinking

And do it in a way that’s believable to kids, rather than preaching the benefits of critical thinking 25 years later.