How Co-Op Integrates Critical Thinking Skills
Critical thinking is often defined as the ability to process, reason, and evaluate information in order to form judgments and make informed decisions. This is serious brain work and learning to do it means building up a variety of foundational skills, including:
Observation
Analysis
Reflection
Reasoning
Communication
Problem Solving
Here are four approaches our co-op mentors use to help build these skills that you can try at home, too.
Nature + Science Journaling
Skills Built: Observation and Analysis
Journaling is a wonderful way to build observation and analysis skills in children and it can start young. At co-op we begin nature journaling with children as young as 7 years old, encouraging them to draw what they see and log important data and vocabulary associated with the concepts they're learning.
For ages 10-17, these beginner nature journals turn into more thorough Science Notebooks, where the children keep detailed records of their science labs, processes, and lessons learned.
Incorporating journaling at home can start with a blank sketchbook and some pencils. Your child can keep pictures and notes of any topic they wish: nature, science, cooking, or crafts. This helps them build a bank personal knowledge based on their observations and experiences, and allows them to jot down important information they need to process what they’re learning.
Purposeful Storytelling
Skills Built: Reflection, Reasoning and Communication
Stories have a way of imparting important lessons and promoting deep thought that simple lectures or bookwork cannot.
At co-op we use storytelling in many of our classes in the form of read-alouds, literature-based learning, guest speakers, and relevant films to help bring ideas to life and give the children plenty of food for thought and discussion.
One of the best ways to support this learning at home is to read and watch together. By reading and/or watching great stories together, you can continue building your child's ability to reflect on ideas and information, and discuss it with a critical mind.
Some good questions to ask along the way are:
Who is telling the story?
Who is not being heard in the story?
What happens when we try to see the story from a different character's perspective?
What messages or lessons is this tory trying to teach us?
Do you agree with those messages and lessons? Why or why not?
Educational Games and Puzzles
Skills Built: Reasoning and Problem Solving
Games and puzzles are great way to stimulate critical thinking muscles. At co-op we use games and puzzles to teach important concepts, build familiarity with needed skills, review and reflect on information, and build collaboration among the children.
While our in class games may not be easy to replicate at home, check out our list of great family style games you can play at home to help support critical thinking skills.
Playing with Points of View
Skills Built: Analysis, Reflection, Reasoning, and Communication
Putting your child in the shoes of another's point of view is a valuable exercise in critical thinking. Seeing from different perspectives helps give us insight into others' experiences and thought processes as well as question our own assumptions.
At co-op these activities often look like debates or defending sides of an argument but they can also take the form of research projects that examine the same event from different sources, storytelling from the views of different characters, and/or games that encourage role playing from multiple perspectives.