Einstein once said, “The development of general ability for independent thinking and judgment should always be placed foremost, not the acquisition of special knowledge.” The ability to think independently sets the foundation for all other mental development—it is the prerequisite to your child’s creativity, builds confidence, and leads to better academic performance. There are more and more online education apps providing independent thinking education, such as a math teaching and practice app named Creta Class.
Through the screening by parents, Creta Class as one of the best online education platforms, not only provides most of the math topics kids need to know, but also gives activities and lessons to support children develop logic, critical thinking, independent thinking, and problem-solving skills, becoming parents’ helper. So, what can you do to improve your child’s ability to think independently?
- Ask Follow-Up and Open-Ended Questions
- Practice through Graphic Visualization
- Practice through Storytelling
Ask Follow-Up and Open-Ended Questions
Many self-learning apps will provide an after-class test to train independently to think and answer the follow-up extension questions of the course content for children. Creta Class online math classes as one of the approved apps also supports children have their independent thinking. In addition, training your children in daily life is another choice.
Whenever you have the chance, ask an open-ended question, instead of a close-ended one. Ask open-ended questions to encourage your child to think of other answers without being confined. For instance, whenever your child finishes eating a snack, you can ask, “And where will you throw the wrapper?” Most likely your child will answer, “In the garbage can.” You can then follow up with, “Then where does it go after it goes into the garbage can?”.
Practice through Graphic Visualization
This exercise is a simple way to train your child. Draw a simple shape on a piece of paper, such as a circle, then let your child guess what it is. Your child may have an assortment of silly or even far-fetched answers—that’s okay. There are no wrong answers here. The purpose is to get your child to think creatively.
If you want to use a systematic training method, Creta Class math will be a great example. They use excellent graphic design, and the beautiful and clear animation let the children combine the visuals with the math teaching content to complete excellent visualization exercises.
Practice through Storytelling
Storytelling exercises are also good exercises for children’s independent thinking. Many parents think online kid math classes like Creta Class are the best example. Creta Class math uses story-based curriculum teaching. Pause on some key plot choices, let children use their imagination and independent thinking ability and make judgments on the subsequent storyline. Parents can also do this exercise while reading a storybook with their children.
Use wonderful opportunities that arise every day to help your child practice thinking independently. Next time you tell your child a story, at the end of the story, ask your child, “What do you think will happen next?” Let your child brainstorm for a while, then have him come up with what he thinks might logically follow. Alternatively, you can also stop at key turning points in a story and ask your child, “What would have happened if things had turned out differently?”. Remember, with all of the exercises mentioned above, there are no right or wrong answers—the point is to get your child to start thinking on his own.
In short, choosing an online math class app for kids like Creta Class allows your children to have the ability to think independently from three different perspectives earlier, and lay a higher foundation for their future life and study. If you are interested in it, come and download it from Google Play or the App store, and try Creta Class trial lessons!
