The Dodds family doesn’t just have idle chit chat around the dinner table. Thanks to books that teach critical thinking, their kids spend dinnertime reasoning through current events and relating them to what they’re reading. And Ryan Dodds and his wife use these conversations to create special moments their kids will remember forever. The Tuttle Twins series includes many books that teach critical thinking and kids’ books about freedom, which the Dodds children have been avidly reading and using to think critically about current events.
Why It’s Important for Kids to be Up on Current Events
Many parents shield their kids from what’s happening in the world, and it’s only natural to want to do this. But there is a whole world for kids to explore when they do know what’s happening in the world.
When you help your kids stay up to date on current events, you’re cultivating critical-thinking skills by teaching them to analyze information and sources, question everything, and spot fake news or even propaganda or sensationalism.
On a related matter, keeping kids up to date on current events helps them understand the whys behind the news, enabling them to connect complex events to their own lives while offering historical context.
Exposing your kids to a wide range of stories also helps them understand a variety of different perspectives, cultures, or issues, which fosters a sense of compassion for others. Kids who know what’s going on in the world also typically become informed, active citizens who have an understanding of their local community, the government, and the world they’re inheriting.
When talk about the news with your kids, you’re also creating special moments they’ll never forget. Kids are shaped by what their parents teach them and the special time they spend together. Discussions will be more memorable to them than any physical object you might be able to give them. And when kids are comfortable talking to you about subjects like what’s happening in the world, they’ll also feel comfortable enough to come to you with big problems or issues in their lives.
Finally, kids who stay up to date on what’s happening in the world are intellectually curious, potentially even figuring out what they want to do with their lives at a young age.
How to Help Your Kids Understand the World Around Them
It isn’t enough just to tell your kids what’s happening in the world. Books that teach critical thinking like the Tuttle Twins series will help them go beyond the whats and start to understand the whys. Start by reading books that teach critical thinking to them and asking them open-ended questions about the content. In developing your questions, use the five Ws and an H: what, where, who, why, when, and how.
Once your kids have a few books that teach critical thinking under their belts, you can start to incorporate daily events into dinnertime conversations. Ask your kids what they think about what happened, why they think it might have happened, and what the consequences might end up being.