Cultivating Critical Thinking in Early Education: A Guide for Teachers
Every child carries an inherent curiosity about the world, turning a multitude of tiny questions into profound learning experiences. As educators, it’s our mission to tap into this curiosity and guide the minds of our youth towards insightful and critical thinking from an early age. Here at 300M, we believe in the transformative power of education. We have always sought to foster inquiring minds, especially within the heart of India’s youth. Leveraging the pioneering approach of Rajesh Soundararajan, we’ve developed a cheatsheet of questions to help early educators encourage critical thinking among their young learners.
Who
- Who are the characters in this story?
- Who can help us when we need it?
- Who might feel happy or sad in this situation?
- Who else should know about what we’ve learnt today?
What
- What makes you think this is the right answer?
- What other ways can we solve this problem?
- What will happen if we change one thing in our story?
- What is the most important thing we should remember?
Where
- Where in our school environment can we find similar shapes/colors/numbers?
- Where can we apply what we learned today?
- Where can we see this happening in our favorite stories?
- Where can we find more information about topics that interest us?
When
- When in our daily routine do we use these new words/concepts?
- When do you think we should ask for help?
- When is it a good time to share what we’ve learned?
- When do we know we are successful with a task?
Why
- Why do you think this happened in the story/scenario?
- Why did you decide to choose that solution?
- Why should we know about this?
- Why is this important to us?
How
- How is this similar to something else we know?
- How do we feel when we solve a problem?
- How is this associated with the rules we have in our classroom?
- How can we make this idea/game/story even better?
These questions are designed to be attentive yet challenging. They invite young minds to explore, examine, reflect and convey – crucial components of critical thinking. As educators, our role involves providing the right questions rather than immediate answers, assisting children to construct their understanding of the world.
We’ve seen the transformative power of education within our programs at 300M, with numerous lives being positively impacted. Each day, we’re working to turn these small everyday questions into learning stepping-stones, directing the way towards a brighter future for India’s children. And you too can be part of this mission. Join us and let’s nurture the curious minds that hold the immense potential to shape a brighter, better world.
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