For this month’s Thrive newsletter, we interviewed Julie Bogart, the author of the new book, Raising Critical Thinkers: A Parent’s Guide to Growing Wise Kids in the Digital Age. The book is a fascinating look at the importance that critical thinking skills play in a child’s development and what parents can do to strengthen those skills.

At Endeavor Schools, we place a great emphasis on developing critical thinking, which is one of the most important tools that children develop during their formative years. From analyzing information to understanding new concepts in school to weighing potential consequences during decision-making, one’s critical thinking skills can have a tremendous impact on their life. Bogart’s new book illustrates the importance of critical thinking and we are glad she took the time to speak to us about it.

In Raising Critical Thinkers, Bogart delves into the importance of instilling strong critical thinking skills in children. The book’s timing is impeccable, as parents are more concerned than ever about giving their children the necessary skills to navigate a world where information and technology is omnipresent.

Bogart is the creator of Brave Writer, the successful online writing and language arts program designed to help children develop strong writing and self-expression skills. As a children’s educator and mother of five children, whom she homeschooled herself, Bogart drew on her vast experience to create an excellent book that provides crucial insight into raising critical thinkers.

In this Q and A, Bogart spoke to us about some of the concepts she discusses in her book, as well as some practices parents can implement to improve their child’s critical thinking skills.

Why is it so important to develop strong critical thinking skills at an early age?

How we learn to learn shapes how we understand ourselves in relationship to others. If from an early age, we are introduced to a variety of ways to live and see the world, we have more room for nuance and complexity as we encounter a wide variety of people and perspectives.

Kids naturally adopt points of view different from their own. They put on dress-up clothes to pretend to be Cinderella or Robin Hood. They crawl on the floor to see what it’s like to be a dog. They imagine that they are traveling in a spaceship. We can capitalize on this natural curiosity by fanning it into flame, rather than training our children to adopt the family system as the one true way to interact with the world.

How can parents enhance their child’s critical thinking skills at home?

First, by valuing dissent. What does that mean? When a child disagrees with a parent’s point of view, the parent can be curious about why that child sees the issue that way. For instance, you might have a child who wants to skip eating breakfast. The typical parent will go into “indoctrination mode” to get the child to see that breakfast matters, that the child’s brain won’t work as well without it, that the child will be hungry too soon before lunch, etc.

But what if we got curious instead? What if the child explained that he didn’t like breakfast foods and only wanted turkey sandwiches. What if the child didn’t feel hungry yet and needed an hour to wake up before eating felt comfortable for them? Can we hear that? Can we swap in a sandwich or send a more substantial snack to school to eat during a break? Sometimes we are so busy telling our kids what they should think and feel, we miss an opportunity for creative problem-solving, helping a child know their own mind, and imagining alternatives.

Parents can also play games of all kinds, ask good questions, and provide their children with experiences and encounters.

Are there common practices that parents might engage in or let their children engage in that could have a negative impact on developing critical thinking skills?

Lots of parents are worried that their children will adopt the “wrong” views, so they protect their children from any thoughts or ideas that contradict the family value system. When we prevent kids from knowing that other views exist, we either drive their different ideas underground where they feel uncomfortable talking about them with their parents, OR we teach them to be propagandists for a perspective—meaning they learn the family lexicon of ideas and defend them without having investigated them for themselves.

What we want are kids who can encounter an idea that feels uncomfortable, knowing they will survive it and can explore and investigate it with tools that lead them to better conclusions.

What do you want parents to know about this book?

I want parents to know this is not a thinly veiled political screed. I don’t talk about US politics or whether or not to wear masks. The purpose of this book is to engage in ideas with tools that help us do a better job of exploring them. I also hope parents who read this book will become better parents—making room for their children to think all of the thoughts they have without running the risk of losing a parent’s love and support.

Why did you write this book?

I wrote this book because the internet has led us into some of the most vicious conversations any of us have ever experienced. Our school test-training led us into the misconception that there would be one right answer to all complex questions and if we could just find the expert who tells us what that is, everyone would agree. What we discovered instead is that school misled us. Most issues are not single answer issues. Most of our conflicts involve our personal perceptions and the narratives our communities give us. It’s difficult to tease apart what I know because I know it and what I have received from my community as true because I value the people who create my meaningful life. My hope is that as we face how the internet has caused us to become more reactive and less thoughtful, we can create new conditions for our children. In short, I really hope we can change the way we interact with one another, so that we can face the big issues that face us bravely, with more insight.