"Why don't you think before you answer?", is a question parents of middle-schoolers often find themselves asking. Don't blame the kids. The truth is we never let them explore and think that far! Critical thinking has become a buzzword in the academic circuit and educators can't stress enough why that matters more than other redundant skills when you are looking to make them future-ready.
So what is critical thinking?
To explain in simple words, critical thinking is the analysis of facts to form a judgment. Given a situation, your children must be able to form a logical conclusion basis the facts they have in hand. Now, this comes in handy not just to solve Integration and Differential Calculus in higher classes, but to solve everyday problems and logical reasoning too.
So when do we train our kids towards honing this skill?
Truth be told, we start as early as when they are in Nursery, says educator Fatema Agarkar. It is not till a little later in their school journey, that we realise our kids find the exams tough, the concepts are hard to understand and the inevitable fear of failure sets in. Did we foresee this when they were kids? We should have, says educator Fatema Agarkar. She beautifully breaks down why experiential learning and critical thinking skills aren't topics that creep into the syllabus when a child is older, but something that needs to be built on at the nursery stage.
- Do we take a minute to answer our kids' Qs with the right reasoning?
- Do our answers inspire them to think more or do we just shush them?
- Are today's schools ready to hone this skill in our kids?
We had this fruitful discussion with other educators and DY Patil International School earlier. Stay tuned to the complete video coming up shortly on our YouTube Channel.
Let's raise a smarter and creative next-gen!
KSP Team
Mansi Zaveri
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