Cognitive Dexterity
Cognitive dexterity is the ability to think and act, quickly and gracefully. One way to develop cognitive dexterity is to teach your child to grapple with and ask quality questions. Great people are not afraid to ask great questions. We have to encourage our children to engage in deep discussions about what it means to live, have good friends and to be great.
The University of Washington’s Center for Philosophy for Children (UWCPC) is a wonderful resource for helping you to engage with your child by asking deep, high-quality questions that are essential to life. Believe it or not, children as young as seven can engage in these types of discussions. Of course, as they get older their answers will change, but what’s important is that you empower them to think about an idea and to share their thoughts with others.
Challenge your children to think about the world around them. For example, when they ask you about homelessness, move beyond the surface answers and engage them in a discussion about how, why and possible solutions. Asking high quality questions that move beyond “yes” and “no” answers is essential to promoting the mental stamina that most American children lack when it comes to problem solving. Some key question stems are, “What if…”, “I wonder how…”, and “Does… or… determine…?”
Daily cognitive calisthenics promote the creative, empathetic and critical thinking needed to improve your child’s adroitness and stretch their thinking to see new possibilities and relationships between ideas, all of which are the cornerstones of greatness.
Employing these smart strategies will help you to hone in on your child’s core competencies while helping them become self-directed learners and mentally great, ready to light up the world up with their talents!
Raising Your Child To Have A Greatness Mentality was originally published on blackdoctor.org
