FROM FAMILYEDUCATION
Improving Your Child's Thinking Skills
by the Council for Exceptional Children
Six Major Thinking Skills
One of the simplest and easiest ways to develop kids' thinking skills
is by wording questions in the right way. When teachers and parents
learn to ask questions that stimulate kids' thought processes, learning
can be fun for children of all ages.
Whether we are conscious of
it or not, different types of questions require us to use different
kinds or levels of thinking. According to Bloom's Taxonomy, a widely
recognized classification system, human thinking skills can be broken
down into six categories. Click below to find out more about each
category and what you can do to help your child improve her thinking
skills.
Knowledge,
comprehension, and
application are more
concrete thinking skills.
Analysis,
synthesis, and
evaluation require more abstraction and are known as
critical thinking skills.
Knowledge
Knowledge involves remembering or recalling appropriate, previously
learned information to draw out factual (usually right or wrong)
answers.
Asking the Right Questions:
Use words and
phrases such as: how many, when, where, list, define, tell, describe,
identify, etc., to draw out factual answers and test your child's recall
and recognition skills.
Sample questions:
How many eggs in a dozen?
When was Abraham Lincoln president?
Comprehension
Comprehension involves grasping or understanding the meaning of informational materials.
Asking the Right Questions:
Use words such as: describe, explain, estimate, predict, identify,
differentiate, etc., to encourage your child to translate, interpret,
and extrapolate.
Sample questions:
Explain how an egg becomes a chicken.
What important events occurred during the years Lincoln was president?
Application Application involves applying previously learned information (or knowledge) to new and unfamiliar situations.
Asking the Right Questions:
Use words such as: demonstrate, apply, illustrate, show, solve,
examine, classify, experiment, etc., to encourage your child to apply
knowledge to situations that are new and unfamiliar.
Sample questions:
What do an egg and the shape of the globe have in common? Can an egg grow into a cow?
How did Abe Lincoln's personal views on slavery fit with the events of the time?
Analysis
Analysis involves breaking down information into parts, or examining
(and trying to understand the organizational structure of) information.
Asking the Right Questions:
Use words and phrases such as: what are the differences, analyze,
explain, compare, separate, classify, arrange, etc., to encourage your
child to break information down into parts.
Sample questions:
What is one difference between eggs laid by a frog and a chicken?
Compare and contrast some significant contributions made by presidents during the 1800s.
Synthesis
Synthesis involves applying prior knowledge and skills to combine elements into a pattern not clearly there before.
Asking the Right Questions:
Use words and phrases such as: combine, rearrange, substitute, create,
design, invent, what if?, etc., to encourage your child to combine
elements into a pattern that's new.
Sample questions:
What might happen if a cow laid eggs? Knowing what you know about
egg-laying animals, what could you say about animals that don't lay
eggs?
What if Abe Lincoln lived today? What problem might he solve?
Evaluation
Evaluation involves judging or deciding according to some set of criteria, without real right or wrong answers.
Asking the Right Questions:
Use words such as: assess, decide, measure, select, explain, conclude,
compare, summarize, etc., to encourage your child to make judgements
according to a set of criteria.
Sample questions:
What do egg-laying animals have in common?
What might have happened if Abe Lincoln never lived? What are some ways that history might be different?
The use of critical thinking is one of the most valuable skills we can
pass on to our children. Gifted children, especially, tend to take
mental leaps and you might notice that they use synthesis and evaluation
without teaching or prompting. Supporting and nurturing these skills is
crucial to the development of strong academic and lifelong
problem-solving skills.
Remember, the most important thing is to
have fun with these skills. When kids enjoy discussions with their
parents and teachers, they'll love to learn.
