You can encourage critical thinking skills and dispositions at home through basic involvement in household tasks. There are four guiding principles called ECHO strategies to help your student through this:

ECHO Strategies:

Encouraging productive struggle,

Combating learned helplessness,

Helping without being too helpful, and

Objecting for no reason

• Limit being a lifesaver-Don't bail them out all the time. Allow your student to try first and then offer support. Ex.-"Tell student: Don't understand a math problem? Take your best stab at it, show your work, and then I will look at it. But you must start it on your own. Left your homework at school? Figure out a plan to ensure you can have it turned in by tomorrow morning."
• Seeking specificity-This helps when a kiddo is stuck on how to solve a problem. Ask your student to clearly explain the problem they are trying to solve-the more specific the better. "Developing this level of clarity equips children with a strong foundation for "learning how to learn" in the school context, a fundamental component of a child's critical thinking toolset."
• Help without being too helpful-"Helping without being too helpful is a practical way to maximize the opportunities for children to work independently. If children can do a task themselves, have them do it. If your student can do a task with instruction, you can ask a sibling or a friend for help instead. Even if you end up having to complete the task because your student cannot help, having your student watch encourages at least some level of involvement. "
• Objecting for no reason-objecting to ideas is a good way to push children to think beyond the surface. By doing this, you ensure that children develop a healthier sense of skepticism, the ability to analyze different perspectives, and repeated practice in thinking on their toes as they learn to justify their positions.

Parent: That's not true. 4 plus 3 is 43.

Child: No, it's not.

Parent: Yes, it is, because when you take 4 and add a 3 to it, you get 43.

Child: No, that's not how you add! You are supposed to start with 4, count off three numbers 5-, 6, 7-and you end up on 7, so the answer is 7.

Parent: Oh, right, right, right...thanks for the reminder.

* After a Disney movie, ask who the bad guy in the movie is & disagree with him/her.

The conversation will be amazing!

Ask your kiddo why in the world they put milk in the back of the supermarket when everyone comes to the supermarket for milk? I asked my son, and let's just say he didn't even want to take the time to think about it until I really pressed him to give me an answer. Ask you kiddo too, and encourage critical thinking!

Check out this gift guide curated by the National Association of Gifted Children. I hope you find it helpful this holiday season.

2nd Grade-Tuesday 2:00

3rd Grade-Wednesday 8:45

1st Grade-Wednesday 2:00

4th & 5th Grade-Friday 9:30

2nd & 3rd Grade-Friday 10:45

4th & 5th Grade-Friday-1:30