Importance of critical and analytical reasoning skills
Education is not learning facts but training the mind to think.
- Albert Einstein
Two of the most important skills that children of today need to develop are analytical and critical thinking. The world is changing more rapidly than ever and kids are expected to understand
more than just producing facts that they may or may not have perceived. Children need to be critical thinkers who can analyze, compare and make inferences from the information provided
to them. Critical and analytical thinking skills are complementary and are mandatory to effectively work with information.
Let’s understand the difference between these skills. Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate sources to determine the facts. Analytical thinking involves breaking down complex information into bits that can be understood and tested. These skills donot come easily ands naturally, they need to be developed, honed and encouraged! So, what are the benefits of critical thinking?
- Creativity
- Curiosity
- Comprehension
- Communication
- Independence
As and when your children start to develop higher order thinking skills, you may observe some of the following characteristics in them.
- Stronger observation and analytical skills
- Inquisitiveness
- Introspection
- Open mind
- Better listening skills
- Creativity
Children who can reason with analysis will ask you the right questions instead of following facts or commands blindly. They will develop different perceptions towards the same problem.
Trusting their own opinions and not giving into peer pressure will not be so difficult.
Now, what is it that you can do to help your children think more critically and analytically?
- Start early and explain everything that you can. Don’t answer to their how’s and why’s with, “That’s how it is supposed to be.”
- Try not to demand blind obedience from your kids.
- Encourage them to ask more questions. It’s alright if they are silly or don’t make sense to you. Don’t turn them away.
- Teach them open mindedness. This can be done by teaching them acceptance.
- Provide opportunities for play where they can explore cause and effects. Both indoor and outdoor games can help you do this. Be a part of their play.
- Work on their reading comprehension skills. The more they read, the more empathy and understanding they will develop.
- Teach them how to connect dots. This can be done by helping them predict stories and helping them relate to chapters or paragraphs. Understanding patterns is also a great way to teach them how to connect.
- Read the newspaper together. Help them be more aware of the world.
- Solve more and more riddles.
Little Genius believes that children should be able to reason with facts and figures than just blindly produce them. We are one of the best Olympiad classes for kids and we believe in taking
a different approach so that children not only produce the right facts but know the reason behind them and can connect them with each other. For eg, a child at Little Genius would be able to
differentiate between India, Asia and Europe and tell us how! We teach them how to group and sort, compare and contrast and identify patterns. Our Math World program incorporates the all
of this, making it one of the best analytical reasoning classes in India! We hope this article helps you understand the importance of critical and analytical thinking abilities and takes us all a step
forward in teaching our kids to be better and smarter thinkers.
Categories :