Why you need to teach Thinking skills for Preschoolers
Preschoolers (in fact, any child who is over the age of 2 years-and even before) need to be specifically taught thinking skills.
Many parents find this challenging because they don't know how to start (let alone continue) as it can be difficult to understand where a child is at when it comes to thinking ability and stage.
However, we NEED to be teaching our kids how to think-because actually thinking is not everything our kids need.
They need to know how and when to apply different types of thinking.
Read on to find out more about why your child needs to be taught a range of thinking skills-and how you can start doing this right now!
Firstly, what do we mean by 'thinking skills'?
All people have thinking skills, and varying degrees of ability to think logically, creatively, and deeply.
Thinking skills for children mean the ability to start using their own brains to see what is going to happen, when it's going to happen, and how they can influence it.
It also means the ability to see that they themselves do have a part in being able to influence change.
We can learn about thought patterns and how they can work for us or against us.
Most importantly of all, we can see patterns. And when we see patterns, we can change things to better serve us and those around us.
Learning how to think independently is a skill that your child is going to need.
If you have a child who is 2, they need to start learning how to think independently, like NOW.
I cannot underestimate how important this is-and many parents miss it, which can create a range of headaches for them later.
Every child at age 2, for instance (even earlier for many) can say No, and know what they mean.
Read here for more on toddlers saying No, as annoying as it is!
Teaching your child to think independently might go something like this:
Your child has shown the ability to pick up their shoes and bring them to the door, ready to go out and play. You have talked about this LOTS of times, and reenact it regularly as you often go outside!
You ask your child 'What do we need on our feet to go outside? Can you remember? I've got mine on!' (points to shoes).
Most toddlers will need a little gentle push to remember, but will run and grab the shoes themselves- often before you ask-from this time on.
Promoting independent thought means a whole range of things for both parent and child. Child gets to:
- Show initiative (VERY important)
- Please his parent
- Gain independence - 'Learning to look after myself' is something every child wants to do innately
- Go outside
- Feel proud of his 'cleverness'!
Parent gets:
- Pride in their child
- The shoes brought over (who's ready to sit down?)
- A happier child, often (not always)
- The sense of 'I'm doing a good job and teaching my child how to start looking after themselves and really thinking.'
All of these things are the first step to raising an independent child who takes responsibility and is interested in the world!
So learning thinking -and actual independent thought-is really important for a child's development.
If you feel stressed or worried that you don't know how to go about this, jump into a free initial call with me here, and we'll see how I can help!
The question for young parents is this.
Are you actually promoting independent thought so your child can grow-or are you part of the problem?
Do you jump in and give them an answer or solution everytime they need one?
Or do you wait a bit to see what they can do?
People think they are helping their child by giving them everything they need.
However this is not always the case-and can actually hinder your child’s development and inflate their sense of self-leading to the classic ‘entitlement’ mindset.
It is crucial to our children that we learn to parent in a way that helps them learn and builds their independence.
Why?
- If we just tell our children what they want toknow, if we aren’t around they can’t work it out.
- They need to learn to solve problems on theirown-even hard ones. This is essential for building resilience and a sense ofself achievement.
- True learning comes about by doing, when you’rea child. It is more important for a growth mindset to do, experiment and failthan to be told and succeed.
Kids have an amazing imagination.
The reason an adult imagination is often not as creative as a child’s is because we grow up and start to think within learned boundaries. For instance, we know a pig doesn’t really fly. But a child can come up with many ideas and inventions because in their imagination, anything can happen.
For instance, on atrip to the opshop awhile ago, my daughter showed interest in a classic toybuilder’s hat. (It was 50c-who elseloves opshops?)
I just assumed shewanted to dress like a builder-but she had a much bigger way of looking at thatlittle ol’ hat. (And yes, of course I bought it for her.)
You know what? Theswagger that kid had walking into the carpark as a ‘detective’ just beateverything else I had seen all day. It was so fantastic!
You know what I learnt?
Firstly, we can afford to think a lot broader than we do.
I mean, we CAN do most things we want to as an adult. It just requires us to think outside the box.
Most things are about choices.
And as parents, we should be encouraging our child’s brains to function in a multi-directional way as much as possible.
So here's my number one tip for parents who want to promote independence and thinking skills to their preschooler.
Don’t fill in the gaps for them all the time.
Require them to think of solutions to problems sometimes. Or help them with the beginning of a solution and ask them if they can think of the end!
“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
-Albert Einstein
How do you allow for your children’s curiosity? Do you answer all their questions? Or do you expect them, occasionally, to answer their own? (Sometimes they need help to get the info!)
Helping our kids learn is just that-helping. Not doing for them.
But sometimes it's hard, like the rest of parenting! And that's OK, Mama.
Let me know how YOU teach your child to think!
If you want to book that call and feel more confident in how you can teach your small person independence (kids don't come with a manual, after all), follow this link.
And/or check out my Facebook group ‘Confidence Builders: Parents of kids aged 1-8’ (regular parents who want to build their confidence through community) with live content from me and regular content, ideas, coaching food for thought and downloads too!
I’d love to have you part of the Smart Mama Smart Kidscommunity! x
Miranda xx
