Cheng Cheng Tan
Develop Your Child's Thinking Skills
We have to differentiate between information and ability to
think. In this day and age, we have an information
overload. However, does that mean that a person who is very
knowledgeable can think well? Our education gives us
information but does not really teach us how to use and
apply them. Our ability to think is to apply knowledge we
have on new situations and circumstances and sometimes even
modifying them to suit the situation.
This is one way we can do it. For example, my son wants to
buy a watch. How would he know which brand and type to
choose? He probably wants to buy the watch that Peter has
because it looks cool. We can give him other factors to
consider. He should think about the cost (involve
mathematics), durability, purpose and usefulness. After
taking all these factors into consideration, let the child
explain why he decided on that particular choice. He can
then apply these same questions when he decides to buy
something else e.g. handphone, shirt.
Edward de Bono, founder of the Cognitive Research Trust
program, uses the PMI technique. PMI stands for pluses,
minuses and interesting points. For any question that
arise, note down all the PMI for that question. This helps
you to decide on the better answer. Try it on any question.
Remember you and your child get better with practice. The
obvious answer may not necessarily be the best answer.
Kids have to learn how to decide too. They have to know
that regardless whether it is a right or wrong decision,
they have to be responsible because they made the choice.
They have to be accountable too!! I am not saying they have
to decide on everything but they should be given the chance
to do so. Learning to make a decision is an art too.
Nobody can make right decisions all the time. However, we
must have the courage to decide and be responsible for it.
Surveys were carried out and found that managers who were
promoted or not made roughly the same number of correct and
wrong decisions. Those who were promoted simply dare to
make the decision and take reponsibility even though it is
wrong. Those who were not promoted did not have the courage
to decide because they were afraid to make the wrong
decision.
Practice as often as you can. Ask questions like 'What will
it be like if Chinese is the only language the world speaks
and learn?', 'How different will my life be if I were born
in Australia', 'If the light bulb was not invented, what do
you think you could invent?'. The best thing is you can do
this anywhere and you do not need any equipment at all.
Remember to use PMI (pluses, minuses and interesting points)
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Cheng Cheng is a parenting expert with two boys age 5 and
6. She has learnt a lot from books and other mothers. She
hopes to share her experiences and knowledge which will
definitely be useful to you. For more articles, please go
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