Raising a family of critical thinkers

[ambergeekgirl]

My husband and I are looking for resources to aid us in raising our children as critical thinkers. Our kids are pretty young, two five year olds and a two year old. We spend a lot of time reading together and asking and answering questions. So far I think we are doing pretty well, but we were hoping that maybe someone out there had some good resources that they could share with us.

Any books on explaining evolution, morality without religious references, etc.?

Thanks.

[JamesDillon]

There are some "young skeptics" books that can easily be found on Amazon; I bought one of them, which was about a little girl who's a skeptic and solves the mystery of a "ghost" in her friend's house, by examining the evidence and concluding that it was in fact the friend's mother who woke up in the middle of the night for a snack. I don't recall the title offhand, but if you do some searching on Amazon there's a lot of that sort of thing to be found.

[Piscivore]

Good luck. Just wait 'till you get them to twelve and they decide that "Argument from Authority" applies to you as well... :)

[jimlintott]

Your best resources are right up there on your shoulders. I am pretty happy with my two skeptics who are now seventeen and twenty.

Here are some of the things I did:

Make them think for themselves. Don't just answer every question, help them learn how to examine things and draw conclusions.

Don't be scared to be wrong. When figuring things out make sure they know that there is nothing wrong with being wrong but there is something wrong with not accepting you are wrong. This means you will have to openly admit when you are wrong.

Tell the truth. This may make you uncomfortable at times but is worth it in the long run.

It doesn't necessarily make life easier as there have been many times when, particularly my daughter, they have found themselves being alone against a group with their opinion. There will be some teachers who get touchy when they have their mistakes pointed out or when they get an argument rationally criticised. There will be teachers that love them. My daughter's biology teacher loves her.

I believe that in the long run you will be doing them a favour but there will be times when it won't be easy.

[ambergeekgirl]

Thanks for the excellent advice and suggestions.:D

[Baal of Confusion]

When I was a kid, I loved the "Encyclopedia Brown" book series. The books were about a boy who solved mysteries using reason and knowledge. Each story presented a mystery, and ended with "Encyclopedia" (his nickname) Brown explaining that he knew the truth. It was then left for the reader to try to figure out what pieces of information he used to reach his conclusion. Answers were given in the back of the book. Since I haven't read any of those books in decades, I can't say how robust the explanations were, but I think those books could be useful as a jumping off point for using critical thinking.

[Dark Jaguar]

I read those books too! Addictive little series. I seem to recall I also read a lot of "The Boxcar Children" series of books.

[Mrs. Hmmphries]

When I was a kid, I loved the "Encyclopedia Brown" book series. The books were about a boy who solved mysteries using reason and knowledge. Each story presented a mystery, and ended with "Encyclopedia" (his nickname) Brown explaining that he knew the truth. It was then left for the reader to try to figure out what pieces of information he used to reach his conclusion. Answers were given in the back of the book. Since I haven't read any of those books in decades, I can't say how robust the explanations were, but I think those books could be useful as a jumping off point for using critical thinking.


Ooooh, I loved Encyclopedia Brown!
I used to read those all the time, along with The Hardy Boys.
Never was much of a Nancy Drew fan, tho.

[Piggy]

I also read the entire Encyclopedia Brown series, and The Boxcar Children before that. Loved them.

Also, a good translation of Collodi's Pinocchio is a great teacher of the value of doubt for early readers/listeners. (I highly recommend the edition illustrated by the Hildebrandt brothers from Unicorn Publishing.) None of this "when you wish upon a star your dreams come true" nonsense.

My mother made sure that my brother and I both watched Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" series. I was 13 when it aired, and it affected me profoundly.

There are some great resources now on video/DVD, including James Burke's "The Day the Universe Changed" and Desmond Morris's "The Human Animal".

Once I saw what the universe was and understood how it functioned and how science could discover these things and know them, it was simply self-evident to me why mythology, religion, and paranormal claims could not be true. And perhaps more importantly, I didn't need them to be true, because there was more than enough mystery, wonder, and beauty in reality than in every heaven ever imagined in all of time.

[kittynh]

The Emperor's New Clothes - the best skeptic book!!!

[kittynh]

Micheal Shermer has a book about teaching your child about science. I think you can order it from the Skeptic site. Well worth the money. I bought several copies for the school where I teach. The BEST advice about how to bring critical thinking into the everyday life of a child.

[kittynh]

oh and my children are both "almost" grown and are critical thinkers!

[logical muse]

When I was a kid, I loved the "Encyclopedia Brown" book series. The books were about a boy who solved mysteries using reason and knowledge. Each story presented a mystery, and ended with "Encyclopedia" (his nickname) Brown explaining that he knew the truth. It was then left for the reader to try to figure out what pieces of information he used to reach his conclusion. Answers were given in the back of the book. Since I haven't read any of those books in decades, I can't say how robust the explanations were, but I think those books could be useful as a jumping off point for using critical thinking.
I read these books when I was a kid too, and loved them. They made me feel smart.

[Forty-Two]

Back when I was a kid, I remember reading a series of books that was clearly a direct takeoff of the Encyclopedia Brown formula, but much better done. The protagonist was named Einstein Anderson (yeah, it was that blatant), but all the mysteries he solved used scientific concepts (as opposed to the occasional parlor tricks in EB). From these books I learned about inertia, static electricity, convex vs. concave lenses, and a bunch of other concepts that have stuck with me into adulthood. Several of the stories dealt with him debunking something claimed to be supernatural. I don't know whether they're in print anymore, but if you find them, please have a read.

[Piggy]

From these books I learned about inertia, static electricity, convex vs. concave lenses, and a bunch of other concepts that have stuck with me into adulthood.
Along those lines, let's not forget School House Rock, which taught a generation about electricity, grammar, American history, how to count by 3s, and how to sing the preamble to the US Constitution!

A CD of some classic SHRs -- including "I'm Just a Bill", "Electricity", "Zero, My Hero", and "Mr. Morton Is the Subject of My Sentence" -- recorded by 90s pop bands, is worth checking out.

[ysabella]

Also, the Great Brain books by John D. Fitzgerald are good.

[Baal of Confusion]

My mother made sure that my brother and I both watched Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" series. I was 13 when it aired, and it affected me profoundly.


Kudos to your mother. My parents made sure to steer me away from anything that addressed evolution in a positive way. My Dad made disparaging comments about Sagan to the point that I had this concept of Sagan as an evil crusader bent on leading all the world to hell. It wasn't until college and after that I started reading his work, and that of Dawkins, et al., and gaining an understanding of what evolution actually is.

Another great resource is of course the Junior Skeptic section of Skeptic magazine. At TAM4 my wife and I spent some time with a couple of the guys who work on Junior Skeptic, and they are now working on a book series off-shoot. Oh how I wish I had had access to something like that when I was a child reading all the credulous, gee-whiz kids' books about bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, the Bermuda triangle, ESP, etc., most of which I obtained from the book buying programs at school.

[Forty-Two]

A lot has been said about science-related materials, but as I think back to my own upbringing I realize that mathematics had a lot to do with my development as a critical thinker. My parents exposed me to logic puzzles and games at a very young age -- I remember doing my first grid puzzle with my mom when I was four years old. We had a subscription to Games Magazine so I could do all kinds of different logic puzzles, and I had a lot of fun with them. They taught me to develop systematic approaches to solving problems, as well as when to use trail-and-error and how to go about using it most efficiently.

Again, as a kid, I just thought they were fun games. As I grew older, I saw how those skills could apply to real-life situations. Looking back, it's no surprise that my parents were so enthusiastic about sharing math with their daughters -- they met and fell in love at a college math course.

[scotth]

My husband and I are looking for resources to aid us in raising our children as critical thinkers. Our kids are pretty young, two five year olds and a two year old. We spend a lot of time reading together and asking and answering questions. So far I think we are doing pretty well, but we were hoping that maybe someone out there had some good resources that they could share with us.

Any books on explaining evolution, morality without religious references, etc.?

Thanks.

If you want to read a fantastic example of how someone has done it in the past, pick up some books on Richard Feynman. There are sections when Richard talks about how his dad raised him to be a scientist even though he himself was not one. And he also speaks about how he had to treat his two children differently as they were growing up and how they weren't interested in the same conversations, bed time stories, and lessons.

"Pefectly Reasonable Deviations from the beaten track", "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out", and "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman" are all wonderful books and a joy to read. Even more, there is much worth emulating in them. There is also a lot of questionable value for emulating as well, but that is a lot of the really fun stuff to read. He's done a number of ill-advised stunts.

I haven't read all the other posts yet, but I'll mentioned "Demon Haunted World" by Carl Sagan on the slim chance that someone else hasn't beaten me to it.

[scotth]

Wow, I was the first to bring up "Demon Haunted World".

There are so many important lessons in that book that are so elegantly delivered. Read it often. It can systematically prepare most people to recognize flaws in arguments.

[blutoski]

My husband and I are looking for resources to aid us in raising our children as critical thinkers. Our kids are pretty young, two five year olds and a two year old. We spend a lot of time reading together and asking and answering questions. So far I think we are doing pretty well, but we were hoping that maybe someone out there had some good resources that they could share with us.

Any books on explaining evolution, morality without religious references, etc.?

Thanks.

Depends on the age. Scooby-Doo's a gateway drug to Skepticism for the cartoon-agers. (Just keep them away from the Thirteen Ghosts season, and the movies)

[Harlequin]

The other day I overheard my oldest (7 yrs) daughter pretending to tell her sister's fortune by looking into a glass ball. (Well, actually it was a wine glass left empty on the table - I did say she was pretending).:boggled:

I decided this was a great opportunity, so I gave them both some helpful advice on how to make it more believable...

I suggested examples of something vague that could apply to anyone.
Then I thought up some examples of things that you'd never be able to prove didn't happen.
We even got down to some Barnum statements and a little bit of vanishing negatives.

Lots of fun for us all, making a game of it. I never said anything about "real" psychics, but I'm sure they'll remember the experience when they're older.
I might try to get them to play the same game again sometime. I can think of worse things to learn than the art of cold-reading!

[juryjone]

When I was a kid, I loved the "Encyclopedia Brown" book series.

So did I, and I've gotten a couple for my daughter.

Answers were given in the back of the book.

Let me guess - it was Bugs Meany!

By the way, welcome to the forum!

[bluess]

Cool moment: Blue2 (6 yrs old) went through a 'afraid-of-the-ghosts' phase. We reviewed how the security system works, how shadows work and how there was nothing in the house except for us and the cats. Did it a couple of times.

Later that month, she advised that she had woken up at night and been very scared of a ghost in the corner, but then remembered the outside door hadn't beeped, and she knew that there was nothing in the house except for us and the cats. So she stared really hard at the corner and figured out that is was a stuffed animal. And went back to sleep.

I'm so proud of her.

[Psiload]

I overheard my seven-year-old daughter talking to one of her friends the other day...

"I know, if your tooth falls out at school, you don't tell your Mom and Dad, and then you put it under your pillow, and if it's still there in the morning, there is no Tooth Fairy."

My little skeptic **sniff***. My heart swelled with pride.

[Stir]

Not so much a resource as a possible "best practice". When I was a kid, my family always had dinner together, and almost every dinner included wide ranging conversation (even when all four kids were quite young) on any topic ... and almost always ended up with the dinner table covered in reference books. We looked up everything in all kinds of books ... but encyclopedias (first World Book, later Americana, later Britannica) and dictionaries were prominent. Still a standing family joke about my Dad jumping up to go find a book to look something up. And I still love and use reference books.

[Cecil]

I overheard my seven-year-old daughter talking to one of her friends the other day...

"I know, if your tooth falls out at school, you don't tell your Mom and Dad, and then you put it under your pillow, and if it's still there in the morning, there is no Tooth Fairy." Hey, I ran that experiment as a kid too!

Then I extrapolated the negative result to Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and God.

[Jorghnassen]

Hey, I ran that experiment as a kid too!

Then I extrapolated the negative result to Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and God.

I never quite understood the concept of a Tooth Fairy. When I was a kid, losing a tooth meant demanding (and receiving) money directly from my parents ($2 per tooth, thusly spent on tooth damaging goods such as candy and cola)...

[the_bgma]

Here you go...


Works geared toward children

Maybe Yes, Maybe No
A Guide for Young Skeptics
(Dan Barker, illustrated by Brian Strassburg, 1990)
Barker’s book teaches children how to look at things critically, and how to debunk supernatural claims. He directly challenges the concepts of angels and demons, devils and gods. Perfect for older elementary-school age children.

How Do You Know It's True?
Discovering the Difference Between Science and Superstition
(Hyman Ruchlis, 1991)
This outstanding book helps the ten to fourteen crowd learn the tools of rationalism, and understand the failings of pseudoscience and superstition. He uses probability to explain how “miracles” are just unusual occurrences.

From the Beginning: The Story of Human Evolution
(David Peters, 1991)
Peters’ book has detailed drawings of the steps along the line from the emergence of life to animals and modern humans. He also includes explanations of why various features emerged in different animals. For pre-teens and teens.

Maybe Right, Maybe Wrong
A Guide for Young Thinkers
(Dan Barker, illustrated by Brian Strassburg, 1992)
Barker’s follow-up to Maybe Yes, Maybe No gives children lessons in morality without gods, using realistic examples and illustrations. Like his earlier work, this is geared toward older elementary-school age children.

Big Bang
(Heather Couper & Nigel Henbest, illustrated by Luciano Corbella, 1997)
Big Bang covers the details and timeline of the Big Bang, at a level appropriate to high-schoolers.

Eyewitness: Evolution
(Linda Gamlin, 2000)
This book from the Eyewitness series is a great resource for middle school or older elementary-aged students. It provides a wealth of detail on evolution, and also briefly covers the age of the earth.

The Birth of the Earth
Cartoon History of the Earth, Volume 1
(Jacqui Bailey, illustrated by Mathew Lilley, 2001)
This comic-format book is a fun and informative way to explain the Big Bang to older elementary-aged children.

Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution
(Steve Jenkins, 2002)
Jenkins’ book poses many questions that elementary-school children ask, and answers in words and pictures.

Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story
(Lisa Westerberg Peters, illustrated by Lauren Stringer, 2003)
This illustrated book covers the timeline of evolution from the first organisms to modern species. It is aimed at younger elementary-age kids, and can be read to pre-schoolers.

The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin
(Peter Sis, 2003)
Another illustrated book, this one gives a fascinating look at the life and achievements of Charles Darwin. It is geared toward older elementary school students.

(from the Book of Books)


******************************************
The Bible of the Good and Moral Atheist (http://www.freewebs.com/thebgma/index.htm)

[bluess]

Thanks, The BGMA!

[the_bgma]

Thanks, The BGMA!

Glad to help, there's a big categorized list of books in the Book of Books, and websites in the Book of Resources, check it out.


******************************************
The Bible of the Good and Moral Atheist (http://www.freewebs.com/thebgma/index.htm)