Inside the classroom is where we expect our students to learn all the skills necessary to guide them through life. But these lessons should not end once our students walk out the school door.
One of the most essential skills our students and children need as they leave school and enter the world is critical thinking. As teenagers grow into young adults, they are faced with an unlimited amount of challenges and problems to conquer on their own.
Building strong critical thinking skills now can help our students learn to solve problems efficiently and responsibly in the future. They can be more independent and have an informed view of life’s challenges and how to overcome them.
So what can we do as parents and teachers to effectively teach this skill outside of the classroom? In this article, we will discuss strategies for teachers, ideas for parents, and how The Juice can help your children practice thinking critically at home.
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills
Critical thinking and problem solving go hand in hand. If our critical thinking skills are lacking, we might find ourselves making poor decisions, trusting the wrong people to help us out, or avoiding life’s problems altogether.
Our students and children need to be taught how to think critically from an early age and encouraged to practice this skill throughout their lives. Strong critical thinking skills teach us to research both sides of an argument. It helps us make informed decisions and act responsibly.
Think about all of the challenges, decisions, and responsibilities new parents are faced with. Parents make decisions every day about what toys to buy their children, what to feed them, when their bedtime should be, and so much more.
They have to decide when a sickness or injury requires a doctor’s appointment and when it does not. Parents are choosing which school to send their children to and how to aid in their educational and social development.
Above all, they are making decisions every day to keep their children safe. And all of these decisions are done through critical thinking.
We face challenges when building relationships in our lives and deciding who to trust. When is it time to walk away from someone? Who is a good friend and who isn’t? What red flags should I be looking for?
Critical thinking skills are essential to money management, budgeting, and financing. One in five American teenagers does not have the necessary skills to be financially literate. Teaching our students how to make responsible choices with their money is a crucial part of adult life.
Choosing the right career, making the right decisions for our own health and wellness, and facing life in general are all affected by our ability to think critically.
How Can Teachers Encourage Critical Thinking Beyond the Classroom?
Yes, teachers are responsible for teaching critical thinking skills in class. But how do we continue the lesson at home?
Be intentional about the assignments and projects you send home. Comparing and contrasting is one way you can encourage critical thinking. Include a homework assignment where students compare and contrast things such as books, previous lessons, scientists, explorers, or authors.
Have students brainstorm and make predictions before everything they do. If you are starting a new lesson tomorrow, assign students to brainstorm what they think they will learn about for homework. Brainstorm what a book will be about after introducing the title and cover in class. Predict how a character will act in the next chapter or what the next page of their textbook will cover.
Encourage students to make real-life connections. Assign a writing assignment where students connect a topic or idea to something they’ve experienced in their own life.
Group projects and activities allow students to learn and understand different viewpoints and thought processes. They learn how to communicate and connect with others.
Have students explain why and how. Require students to write their math answers in complete sentences and explain how they got their answers. Present students with a scenario where a student solved a math problem wrong and have students find and explain their mistakes.
How Can Parents Encourage Critical Thinking at Home?
Parents are not off the hook. It is just as important to encourage critical thinking at home as it is in the classroom.
Make a point to watch the news together a few times a week and have a discussion about that night’s stories. Did you agree with the story? Why or why not? How would you have presented this story differently? Is there more you want to know? How could you find more information about the story? Did you think the anchor did a good job?
Have some diverse reading material available for you and your kids and encourage your family to read regularly. Maybe start a book, article, or magazine discussion once a month to talk about what everyone learned and how they felt about the material covered.
Make everything a debate. If your children don’t agree with something (like chores, homework, cooking, etc), have a debate over it. Debate current events topics, news, music, or anything else you can have a friendly argument about. Ask your children to back up their side with evidence.
Games are a fun way to encourage critical thinking. Video games, chess, and brain teasers can teach your kids how to solve their own problems and find effective solutions.
Building Critical Thinking Skills with The Juice
Researching and planning ways to encourage critical thinking at home doesn’t have to be difficult. The Juice’s Home Edition is ready for you to use as soon as you sign up! Our Home Edition provides parents with exceptional resources each day so parents don’t have to spend extra time searching for material on their own.
These resources include news-based articles sent to your inbox each morning. Our unbiased articles give your family diverse material to teach critical thinking skills through discussions, debates, vocabulary development, and more.
Our Home Edition allows up to 5 kids to participate in one household with 4 different reading levels to choose from. Our built-in vocabulary help will ensure each child can understand the material.
We want the very best for you and your family, so we have worked with the best to develop our curriculum. Our expert educators and award-winning journalists have worked together to create diverse learning material that will expand the viewpoints of our readers and teach them more about the world we live in.
To learn more about how you can use The Juice in your home, visit thejuicelearning.com.
