The popularity of olympiads and competitive exams for kids is growing. Parents are hunting for solutions to improve the thinking skills of their children. We all understand that reasoning skills are an indispensable part of a child’s development and early learning. But most of us fail to understand why?
Here’s the truth: your child is not going to remain under your protective wings forever. He/she has to face the real world and deal with different circumstances. And without having the skill to reason and apply logic, your child is going to have a hard time. Reasoning skills help ease the process of problem-solving, which is a stepping stone to success. Inducing the development of logical reasoning in kids at an early age helps improve their mental abilities. Children also develop higher levels of cognitive activity and begin to possess an increased capability to solve problems, intuitively and creatively.
My childhood was different. Back then, we did not have exposure to advanced skills that have become a must-have these days. My first encounter with Logical Reasoning was when I was preparing for MBA entrance exams. As I prepared for the CAT (Common Aptitude Test), CET and XAT exams, I realized the importance of reasoning skills and why it is essential to develop them right from childhood. Learning them all of a sudden was a bottle-neck situation for me and this is something we need to avoid for your growing children.
What are Reasoning Skills?
Reasoning is the skill to look at problems or situations as they are, observe them keenly, and apply strategies to solve them. Unlike usual subjects which have a set curriculum that needs to be memorized and remembered to be able to solve questions, reasoning is a very soft skill. It is learned through observation and activities that truly challenge the mind and broaden the perspective of young minds.
When children are at the age of 3 or 4 years, they can reason out that they need to act, and they try to. However, their actions are more often than not random. This is largely because their curious little minds are in an exploration mode. Hence, they begin to react immediately when they sense the need to; acting randomly to address the problem without analyzing the underlying cause or the circumstances. As they enter formal schooling, most of the randomness is directed to learning essential fundamentals and rules. Eventually, all their energies are taken up in memorizing topics and trying to score well in exams. The ever competitive scenario does not help. The randomness now turns to a single-way thought process. The ability to think beyond academics and marks is lost.
How do children develop reasoning skills?
Now is the time to bring back their exploring minds, in a more structured manner. How do you do that? Give them an opportunity to think out of the box and foster lateral thinking. Reasoning-based activities are a good start!
Logical reasoning starts to take shape after your child makes practical attempts at solving problems. Children are capable of reasoning, they can form logical relations between knowledge and interaction. Reasoning is an ability that develops when children have the freedom to spend time on their own and build up their thought process.
Logical reasoning demands independence. When we trust children and their decisions, we can improve the development of their logical reasoning. In trying to find answers, children begin to boost their capability to reason logically. But if we don’t trust them and constantly bulldoze them with our suggestions, beliefs, experiences and strategies, they will become parasitic and always depend on others to do the thinking. They will not be able to make judgments and their logical side will remain immature.
The aptitude for reasoning develops differently at different ages, depending on a child’s individual capacity. Some children learn to reason quickly, for others, it takes recurrent actions to form a pattern and logical connection. All the same, it manifests in every child sooner or later.
Let’s consider this example; while studying, a child who is a self-learner explores concepts and forms connections to grasp and understand the topic. In contrast, a child who is either spoon-fed or made to mug up is unable to form those connections on his own and needs help often. While this child might do well academically, he is being deprived of building logical thinking skills which have benefits beyond academics. In contrast, a self-learner, who can reason excellently, will immediately grasp the concept with little or no help needed. I am sure you realize how important this is in real-life situations which we encounter beyond our early schooling.
Children should be taught how to think, not what to think.
—Margaret Mead, American Author and Speaker
Types of Reasoning Skills your Child should Develop
There are several types of reasoning skills, the list is pretty lengthy if you can consider all facets of this subject. Without digressing, we’ll keep our focus on reasoning skills your child should develop.
We have explained each reasoning type with an example which your child can try out along with you!
Visual Reasoning
Visual Reasoning, as the name suggests, is trying to find out a logic in visual objects such as patterns and shapes. Generally, most shapes follow a certain movement which we have to track down. As you do this one, you will realize that you activated your brain (the right side) to filter out colors and shapes at the same time. Your observation and focus faculties will also shoot up momentarily.
Verbal Reasoning
Verbal reasoning is a play around alphabets, words, and paragraphs. It tests your ability to figure out the logic behind grouping of alphabets/words. It also tests your abilities to comprehend a paragraph and form logical conclusions based on the information given. A comprehensive approach to English and Logic, is what verbal reasoning activities have to offer. Verbal Reasoning also tests your general knowledge, generally through analogy questions.
Numerical Reasoning
If Verbal Reasoning is English + Logic, Numerical Reasoning is Mathematics + Logic! Your ability to find out the hidden number patterns—figuring out which mathematical operation or occasionally a combination of two operations are hiding in the number series. A fun way to test your understanding of numbers and the patterns they form.
Logical Reasoning
Logical Reasoning activities test your ability to make inferences from the set of conditions given in the question. It is almost like a mystery unfolding as you do the activity. These activities will test your child’s abilities in figuring out directions, placements, arrangements, and deductions. I am sure you realize, it is so much fun and learning at the same time!
Benefits of learning reasoning (for kids)
Let me just sum up the reasons and benefits for working on Logic and Higher-Order Thinking activities for kids:
- Boosts observation, focus, and problem-solving skills in your child
- Gives a 360-degree approach to learning—concepts that tap both the left and right side of your child’s brain
- Broadens your kid’s perspective and widens the thought process. This will help your child navigate challenges creatively in real life
- Helps boost IQ and aids in overall academic performance
It is not without a reason that schools in the United States and United Kingdom have a separate subject based on Logic from Grade 1. On the other hand, in India, we are introduced to logic only when we start preparing for competitive exams. Obviously, changing the education system is not an option for parents like us, but we can give them the opportunity to learn smartly. We can definitely look for resources which can give our kids an opportunity to think out-of-the-box and fully expand and utilize their growing minds for a brighter future.
Do let us know in the comments your thoughts and how your child was able to solve the activities in the blog.