I was wondering if any of you guys knew of any books that focus on the best ways to teach children about critical thinking, the scientific method, etc. Not books that focus on teaching specific things, or forcing your child to learn or memorize, but just a general kind for the best approaches to basically equipping a young child (4-5 years old) with the kind of mindset that will allow him to think, develop ideas and hypotheses, investigate things, etc.

 

I already do things like this with my nephew, so he can have a good foundation in critical thinking, but I didn't know if maybe there were other ways I can try, or games or experiments I could do to show him these things in action.

 

Thanks.

There are a few actually, specially from the Humanist and Skeptics community.

 

"Maybe Yes, Maybe No: A Guide for Young Skeptics" by Dan Barker is one that I heard good stuff about (never read it myself, though).

 

I knew of a few more but I need to re-search them; I bought some for my cousins but that was a few years ago. I'll post more if I find them.

 

[EDIT]

There's also this book meant for the parents of said children: "Raising Freethinkers: A Practical Guide for Parenting Beyond Belief" by Dan Barker as well. Again, didn't read this book myself but I heard good stuff about it. You could probably find more through the recommended section in that page.

 

Thanks, those will be great to start with! Somehow when I do my own Amazon searches, I never seem to find these books in the lists!

Thanks, those will be great to start with! Somehow when I do my own Amazon searches, I never seem to find these books in the lists!

 

I happened to have done the same thing a few years ago, so I found a few good sources. You should look up "Humanist Parenting" or "Skeptic Parenting", there are a few societies for that with tips, blogs, communities and good sources.

 

Examples of some of those -

 

• GREAT resource about these things in "Science-based Parenting" blog: http://sciencebasedparenting.com/
• American Humanist Association "Parenting" section (includes book reviews, academic analyses of parenting issues and other resources): http://www.americanhumanist.org/parenting
• A Talk About Humanist Parenting (from the International Humanist and Ethical Union): http://www.iheu.org/node/849
• This is a nice blog I sometimes read from "Agnostic Mom"

Also, a bit of a self indulged self-publicity, but my blog, too, has a few activities for kids (though I think mostly a tad older): http://www.smarterthanthat.com/experiments/ (non-newtonian goo should be suitable, though I shall warn you it's INCREDIBLY messy.. but equally fun ) ... maybe the "Duckies" too, though that might be for a bit older range.

 

There are also science experiments for kids online. Now that I do that in the internship (granted, for a much older audience) I find a lot of those. Examples of some good ones (those are K-3, so maybe a TAD older, but I bet you can adjust them to a younger kid)

• Hot/Cold water and Ice: http://www.need.org/needpdf/PriHotIce.pdf
• Exploring Magnets (full lesson plan + teacher's guide): http://www.need.org/needpdf/Exploring%20Magnets.pdf
• Exploring the "world" of Trash: http://www.need.org/needpdf/Trash%20FlipBook.pdf
• "Kids Science Experiments" site, with a TON of ideas and actual experiment "recipes": http://www.kids-science-experiments.com

Also, there's PhysicsQuest site with TONS of home experiments you can test out and do with kids. You will just need to explore the database and see which is suitable for that age group (I don't think they have an age category) http://physicscentral.com/experiment/physicsathome/index.cfm

There's also "PhysicsQuest", which you can get a kit for fun physics experiments, but this one is meant for much older children (about the age of middle-school or the end of elementary). Keep it in mind, though, for the future, they have good stuff (and comic books!). Same address, just click on "PhysicsQuest" and Spectra.

 

Good luck

 

~mooey

Thanks! This stuff should be great! I'm actually looking forward to the experiments myself!

 

There's also this book meant for the parents of said children: "Raising Freethinkers: A Practical Guide for Parenting Beyond Belief" by Dan Barker as well. Again, didn't read this book myself but I heard good stuff about it. You could probably find more through the recommended section in that page.

 

 

I'm reading this book right now. Just want to note the author is not Dan Barker.

Oops! you're right. Sorry!

For the record, and for credit's sake:

 

 

Raising Freethinkers: A Practical Guide for Parenting Beyond Belief [bargain Price][Paperback]

Dale McGowan[/url] (Author), (Author), (Author), (Author)

 

Sorry

Oops! you're right. Sorry!

For the record, and for credit's sake:

 

 

Raising Freethinkers: A Practical Guide for Parenting Beyond Belief [bargain Price][Paperback]

Dale McGowan (Author), Molleen Matsumura (Author),Amanda Metskas (Author), Jan Devor (Author)

 

Sorry

 

And it's actually quite good so far.

I was wondering if any of you guys knew of any books that focus on the best ways to teach children about critical thinking, the scientific method, etc. Not books that focus on teaching specific things, or forcing your child to learn or memorize, but just a general kind for the best approaches to basically equipping a young child (4-5 years old) with the kind of mindset that will allow him to think, develop ideas and hypotheses, investigate things, etc.

 

I already do things like this with my nephew, so he can have a good foundation in critical thinking, but I didn't know if maybe there were other ways I can try, or games or experiments I could do to show him these things in action.

 

Thanks.

 

Hi, try some books by Stephen Hawking: George's Secret Key to The Universe, and other science books for Kids. I don't know if they improve critical thinking, but it sure will encourage imagination and creative thinking in kids, which is also important in any field of science.