We are all spending more time at home these holidays! Here are some strategies to help encourage critical thinking skills in your child whilst also having some fun.

1. Teach your children to play strategy games like chess and show them how the movement of the pieces follow rules. This is an introduction to logical reasoning and deduction - the application of rules to situations.

 

2. To develop spelling, sequential arrangements and linguistic ability have them do wonderword puzzles. Better still have them create them! Simply create a 10 x 10 table and fill it with words. Put one letter in each cell and make words go in any direction.

This helps students to work with words, consider spelling and also requires perceptual reasoning for letter arrangements.

An extension of this can be to have all the words follow a theme (eg such as Popular songs). Any empty squares can be filled with letters that spell out the answer to a further problem. In this example, it can be a song title or singer of the highest selling song of 2020.

 

3. Ask your child to develop a new plan for the house or apartment by reimagining the rooms. Have them justify why their version of the home is an improvement on the present layout or organisation. This encourages analysis (purpose of spaces), ideas generation, critique and critical thinking - to effectively justify alternatives.

 

4. Ask your child to write an argument in favour of shortening the school week or lengthening the holidays. However, they must do some research to provide evidence-based reasons as to why this will be effective to overall learning. This teaches that argument based on authority is more persuasive than argument based on uninformed opinion.

 

More about the author

Mohan Dhall is the co-founder of the Australian Tutoring Association and author of several books, including Critical Thinking Skills and Mathematical Reasoning guides for the Selective School and Opportunity Class test. Mohan, an expert in gifted education and critical thinking, has designed the series in a manner that builds the capacity for students to think critically as they progress through the series. He also writes books on Legal Studies, Business Studies, Ecommerce and Commerce and brings a wealth of experience within the Australian education industry.