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We design critical thinking into ALL of our homeschool curriculum and supplemental educational products. This not only helps students transfer critical thinking skills to other areas of their lives, it improves the effectiveness of the lessons. Critical thinking requires deeper analysis of the lesson. Deeper analysis produces deeper understanding, resulting in greater engagement and retention of the lesson.

Testimonials from Homeschooling Parents:

Featured success stories & testimonials:.

"I especially like the way students get a deeper understanding of the words used and improve their thinking and writing skills." - Teachers' Choice Award Reviewer (regarding Vocabulary Smarts)

"This product provides a challenging yet engaging means to assess necessary, basic word usage skills, and includes important, meaningful writing connections." - Teachers' Choice Award Reviewer

"This product provides a challenging yet engaging means to assess necessary, basic word usage skills, and includes important, meaningful writing connections." - Teachers' Choice Award Reviewer (regarding Complete The Picture Math)

"[The Complete The Picture Math] activities were a great way to practice reading and following directions while reviewing math concepts." - Teachers' Choice Award Reviewer

"I've become a Critical Thinking convert. I tell everyone who asks that if I were starting all over from scratch I'd focus my whole curriculum on materials from The Critical Thinking Co.™. That may sound extreme, but I've seen [students] make phenomenal progress since I de-emphasized rote memorization." - Kathe, Educator, Marshall, MO

"[P]eople often ask me what to order from The Critical Thinking Co.™. I tell them, not even jokingly, that I can't help them. I'd advise them to order everything." - Melanie, Educator, Garland, TX

"The Critical Thinking Co.™ has uniquely captured the method of teaching students not only how to think logically, but to apply logic to the process of learning in every subject area. [M]any companies have begun to jump on the bandwagon and produce materials that use the critical thinking label, but the contents are the same old drill and practice, and our students know the difference right away." - Peggy, Educator, Tucson, AZ

"Your publications help to make significant learning happen for my students, and I have promoted your products in countless speeches and workshops I have given to teachers around the country. You have found ways to engage students in thinking and performance and the interactive approach is one I recommend highly and often." - Jeff, Professor of Education, Tampa, FL

"[This] company offers every imaginable means of teaching critical thinking to every student. I have found no other company that offers such specialized materials and that is so totally committed to such a difficult task in today's society." - Elizabeth, Educator, Richmond, VA

"My students really enjoyed the mental challenge that the problems posed them. The excitement that I saw coming from [their] faces as they worked cooperatively to solve problems was mind-boggling to me." - Leska, Educator, Charleston, WV

"We see great results in Thinking Skills from using your products. Your work has produced positive results and, I believe, higher test scores." - Luine, Educator, Baytown, TX

"I credit you in helping both my [students] and me to learn the thinking skills needed for success." - Michelle, Educator, Broad Run, VA

"The standard curriculums weren't working as well as I had hoped. The students were becoming impatient with all the repetition, but with these books, they've become eager to learn again." - Priscilla, Educator, Walpole, MA

"For 12 years, I've recommended your company to my teacher-training students. Your materials are exceptionally valuable to teachers. The Critical Thinking Co.™ not only produces quality materials, but your fine company is unusually responsive to needs and questions of the individual teacher as well as of the big school districts." - Dr. Leonard Martin, Teacher Education Program, University of Denver

"In my 17 years in the district, I haven't seen anything work the way [the Building Thinking Skills®] program did. The improvement was phenomenal, especially for our at-risk populations and second-language students. - Gayle Polk, Guidance Counselor, East Elem. School, Monroe, NC

"I have been teaching for 38 years. I started using Midwest Publication materials in the 1970's while working with gifted students. The critical thinking materials have provided a constant challenge for my students. The Mind Benders® were one of their favorite activities. I have continued to use your curriculum materials for more than 30 years. I have made it a point of sharing your critical thinking books with other teachers. Thank you for enhancing the minds of youngsters." - Dennis Schuman

"The books are easy to follow and allow kids to jump around... My son's teacher loved it, as well, saying the math concepts are age appropriate for him." - iParenting Media Reviewer

"I purchased Language Smarts, Mathematical Reasoning™, Visual Perceptual Skill Building®, and Dr. Dooriddles. My son is homeschooled in first grade and this is perfect for him. The Critical Thinking Co.™ products are a 'must-have' for any homeschooling family. Your child will be taught essential academic skills beyond rote memorization. Each activity encourages my child to use higher-level thinking and I see this overlap into his everyday problem solving skills. The Critical Thinking Co.™ truly does 'empower the mind!' I will be ordering from this company for years to come! Thank you again!" - Krista Bulger

"When my son is done with his schoolwork, he asks to do 'the fun books,' by which he means Building Thinking Skills®, Mind Benders®, and Red Herrings! What parents doesn't want to hear that?!" - Anne Ling, M.S. Ed.

"What a fun and family friendly way of making your brain grow. As a homeschooled family we're not always home so we keep Red Herring Mysteries in the car and everyone participates. The helpful guide at the beginning explains how to get the children to think in a deductive way rather than just guessing the answer, The answers at the back will surprise you. When the older children think they have the answers they then can ask leading questions until the younger ones get it as well. While it is probably meant for an overhead projector, the quality of the questions are well worth it. Time in the car melts away as the kids learn and laugh." - Joan Schleh, Mt. Vernon, WA

"My child really enjoyed learning math and being able to work on her art skills at the same time. What a great concept, especially with art being cut out of so many schools do to budget cuts." - Teachers' Choice Award Reviewer (regarding Complete The Picture Math)

"I just wanted to let you know how grateful our family is for the resources you offer. Six months ago, our family adopted six children from Liberia, West Africa. The children are war orphans. They range in age from 8 to 16 years. There are many academic milestones that they have missed, although they are able to do much more than I expected. I was able to speak with Tim via customer service. He was so knowledgeable. (Most folks I speak with think Liberia is in Russia!) He was able to dialog with me and gave terrific advice. He recommended some products but was also able to offer practical suggestions on how to fill in the gaps for these children. I cannot tell you how relieved I am to have found real help. I have chased so many rabbit trails that led nowhere. My hope is renewed and my kids are excited! Thanks so much!" - Kaitlyn MacMillan

"This product [Mathematical Reasoning™] incorporates so many skills into one activity that it can be used across the curriculum. Not only are math strategies and skills taught, but it also helps with reading and deciding what is being asked. I love this product!" - Teachers' Choice Award Reviewer

"The most positive characteristic of these books are the higher order thinking skills that the content encourages. As an educator, I can appreciate that the skills involve multi-steps and hands-on manipulation." - iParenting Media Reviewer

"Parents who home school students will find the books extremely helpful when introducing mathematics skills and all NCTM concepts and strands. For the money, the books are excellent buys and worthy supplements to any early childhood student's education." - Maxine Pincott, Oliver Ellsworth School, Windsor, CT, Teaching Children Mathematics (NCTM)

"As a homeschooling mother of five, I wanted to thank you for such wonderful products. We have changed our homeschool curriculum to focus on your Critical Thinking Co.™ products--after spending a small fortune on materials that were watered down and not effective--and couldn't be happier. I wish we had found your products earlier. Our younger children that have used your full curriculum products since preschool are all performing above their age groups and loving the challenge of learning!Language is not my son's strong point, but by using Language Smarts™, he is writing complete sentences, recognizing grammatical errors, and learning Language Arts like never before. Mathematical Reasoning™ presents math in a way that makes it not only simple to learn, but also practical to apply to everyday circumstance --obviously making math more meaningful to him. I cannot brag enough on Building Thinking Skills® and how it starts students out at a young age with organizing thoughts, brainstorming, and categorizing, all of which are crucial as college students and adults but unfortunately these skills tend to be overlooked in other curriculums. Our whole family enjoys the riddles and brain teasers from Thinker Doodles and Dr. DooRiddles that fill our van with giggles and discussion on long trips. Thank you for such wonderful products! Three cheers for exceeding the status quo!!!" - Katherine David, MS

"Our school had a low rate of children qualifying for advanced math. I started using Math Ties with them, and we had over 10 students in one class qualify for 7th grade math as 5th graders! I know that the key was the higher level thinking required in Math Ties." - Cassandra, VA

"I have been using The Critical Thinking Co.™ materials for 17 years. Our 1st son is an honor student at the University, and our 2nd son, a senior in high school, just scored a perfect 800 on the critical reading section of the SAT. He says, 'After all of those Editor in Chief® books, how could I not do well, Mom!' Thanks The Critical Thinking Co.™." - Melissa, OK

"My four-year-old daughter and I began slowly working through [Mathematical Reasoning™] together this fall. I figured we'd do a little here and there to start building some pre-math and math skills before jumping into a real curriculum next year. Well, she fell in love with the book! She would beg to 'do math' everyday, and want to work on it for 30-40 minutes at a time. Her math skills are now blowing me away! After the section about dividing quantities in half, she started talking about halves all the time. And she even figured out what half of 3 was all on her own. She is now in a 1st grade math curriculum and breezing through it at age 4-1/2. [Mathematical Reasoning™] really did what it promised — it built her mind up for future math experiences. Thanks so much for a great product!" - Katie, MO

"Our family loves your Mathematical Reasoning™ series. My son will be completing Level C by the end of this school year. As a former public school teacher and now a home school mom, I have looked at many math curricula and yours is by far the best I have seen and used. I am so glad you are continuing this series and can't wait to see the next book." - Park, TX

"I am a very experienced teacher and cognitive trainer. I own and direct a learning center and I have used the Building Thinking Skills® materials with my students. The success of developing the critical thinking skills is outstanding with these materials. One of my students was in the Special Education program for years; after working with the Building Thinking Skills® books he returned to grade level in seven months. I have worked with various brands of thinking skills materials, but The Critical Thinking Co.™ has the best on the market. I highly recommend these materials." - Claudette, Prescription for Success Learning Center, CO

"I am a certified teacher in math and history. My 13-yr-old niece and her friend homeschool with me, and I was looking for curriculum materials in language arts, since I had accumulated very little in that area. Thanks to a friend, I was introduced to your products, and we now use both the Word Roots series and the Editor in Chief® series. They now look forward to their grammar sessions, instead of dreading the boring drills in their previous books." - Jane, FL

"My sons have benefited tremendously from your products. Calvin (10) is in a gifted program and Jack (14) is in an advanced curriculum . They both score in the high 90th percentiles in all standardized tests. As a mom and a university professor I can't thank The Critical Thinking Co.™ enough." - Marinilka, WA

"When my daughter was 13, I began using the Editor in Chief® Series as part of our homeschool curriculum. She enjoyed the challenge of looking for errors even if at times she became frustrated that she missed a few. Only to go back and look harder until she found them! These skills have helped her be able to express her thoughts well throughout high school and college. She, now 20, was approached by the dean of students at her university and asked if she would be interested in being the senior editor for the school newspaper! She immediately jumped at the chance! This is a paid position complete with an office, a budget, photographers, writers, layouts, printers, etc. She now has truly become an 'Editor in Chief.' Thank you!" - Lisa-Jean, NJ

"My daughter, age 14, has PDD/Autism. Also, she has an accompanying non-verbal learning disorder (this doesn't mean she doesn't talk; it means that she has trouble interpreting body language and other non-verbal information). Something she has always struggled with has been visual problem solving. We have been using The Critical Thinking Co.™ materials since she was small, as they were the only materials that broke down tasks into small enough chunks for her. As she has grown older, we have also been using the software, most recently the new Building Thinking Skills® software. The Mind Benders® software also presented many challenging visual-puzzle activities, and we have used all of the Math and Reading Detective® software to help her fine-tune her critical thinking skills in the content areas. When she was 12, I purchased the Lexia Cross Trainer software. It was hugely expensive, and helpful, but The Critical Thinking Co.™ activities were just as useful and more varied to hold her interest, and much more reasonably priced.The materials haven't 'cured' my daughter, of course, but they have helped her stick with practicing her skills even when it is difficult. She 'asks' to play the second Building Thinking Skills® software nearly every day. Thank you!" - Sandy, MD

"When my two children were 8 and 6, they completed Building Thinking Skills® Level 1 in just a few months. Every day they begged to do 'the thinking book' first, and never wanted to stop after just a couple of pages. Many days they went on and on until I had to make them quit to do something else. My son jumped three grade levels that year in reading comprehension, and my daughter experienced major breakthroughs in her understanding of math concepts. Coincidence? I don't think so! This year we jumped back in to Building Thinking Skills® Level 2. They are now 10 and 8, and the interest level hasn't waned at all. I just love curriculum that the kids can't wait to do and that is obviously so good for their ability to think and process information. Thanks so much for such fun products!" - Cindy, OH

"My daughter is 8, and we had tried several math programs usually stopping in the school year several times to find one that 'clicks.' Some of the programs left her in tears when I would say, 'ok, it's time for math.' She would say they were just too boring. It was the same thing over and over again. After visiting a curriculum fair one year, I had tried a Mind Benders® book because she likes a challenge. She loved it right away. She says each one is different, and it is fun to try and figure them out. So I decided to try Mathematical Reasoning™ Level B. I was not disappointed. She is quite happy with it. They also have different types of math problems, not just the same thing over again. They lay the ground work for higher learning in an easy and fun way. Thanks so much, I am looking forward to trying other products." - Joanne, FL

"Our eleven-year old son has learning disabilities. He struggles to read. He struggles to retain information from day to day. In early January/09, Cat 3 testing rated his reading score as 2.3, his language arts as 2.4, and his math as 3.6. We and he were amazed and totally pleased when his scores in late March were 4.2 for reading, 4.3 for language arts, and 4.9 for math. We wish to thank The Critical Thinking Co.™ for their terrific products which allowed this improvement to happen. These are the products we used: 1. Building Thinking Skills® Primary 2. Building Thinking Skills® Level 1 3. Mind Benders® Book 24. Mind Benders® A1(first half)5. Memory Challenge! Software6. Think Analogies® A1These products have greatly improved our son's academic abilities with only 5-10 minutes per day, per book, and doing two books per day. Next week, our son will be advancing into another new level of readers and will have completed 1/3 of grade 5 math. We will continue to use your products every step of the way. Thanks, The Critical Thinking Co.™" - Valerie, Saskatchewan, Canada

"As a former elementary teacher, and presently a homeschooling mom, I highly recommend Building Thinking Skills®. My daughter is gifted with strong language art skills, but had confidence issues in math matters. I began using Building Thinking Skills® Level 1 in her third grade year as a way to strengthen her critical thinking skills and build her confidence. It only took about 10 minutes of our school day, and she usually completed 2 pages within that time, except when she wanted to keep on working! (You know a product is a success when the students don't want to put it down!) Both her confidence and reasoning skills improved, and along with those, her standardized test score made an amazing leap. As I was choosing curriculum for her fourth grade year, she ASKED to use Level 2. I know I had a big smile on my face as I said 'Of course, you can!' She is now just a few days away from completing Building Thinking Skills® Level 2. We are both very pleased with your products, and are currently poring over your catalogue, enthusiastically choosing more products for next year!" - Amy, TX

"I teach children that have been identified gifted. Your catalog is one of the few that I order from year after year. Wanting to increase vocabulary I decided to purchase Word Roots. It is everything I was searching for and more. It goes beyond 'spelling tests' and teaches students to decipher words based upon prefixes, suffixes, and roots. The focus is on meaning which in turn increases comprehension. My students enjoy watching the buildings appear when they reach 90% mastery. I seldom hear complaints when having to redo activities because of the technology used. This year I had several students so successful that I had to order Level B. I teach fifth grade. Keep up the good work-you are right on target with gifted children." - Cecilia, NC

"I recently purchased the Mathematical Reasoning™ Beginning 1 book for my son who just turned 3 years old. He absolutely loves it! The first day we looked at the book, he completed the first 13 pages and can now recognize when a set has 3 members just by looking at the picture! I love that the instructions are so simple and understandable; it really keeps him engaged. As a math instructor, I am so happy that it looks like I may have a math-brain in my family after all! He asks to do his math schoolwork every day!" - Janelle, LA

"My son hated math. I was using two different popular programs and he didn't like either. It didn't matter if he had manipulatives or a fun, colorful workbook. I saw your curriculum and gave it a try. Wow! What a great fit for my son. He is a child who learns best when analyzing information. Your Mathematical Reasoning™ curriculum gave him a way to learn math that made sense to him. Thank you!" - Amy, Ontario, Canada

"Making the decision to homeschool my son was scary business. Although I had a post graduate degree I'd never taken the first class in education theory. A teacher recommended the Mind Benders® product and I quickly learned about all the other wonderful products offered by The Critical Thinking Co.™. I discovered that I had developed my own educational theories and one most dear to my heart was to encourage my son to think as opposed to memorize temporarily. We have used many of the products for math, reading and language arts, and enjoyed them all, but Mind Benders® remains my son's favorite. 'Please, Mom, can't I do one more?' He asks every time we complete a problem. That truly brings a smile to this homeschool mom's face!! Thank you, thank you to all the writers and illustrators who make these great learning tools that are so much fun." - Elizabeth, TX

"Think-A-Minutes has really allowed me to pinpoint my children's strengths and weaknesses. My second-grade son most often asks for help on pages that contain verbal skills. My fourth-grade daughter most often asks for help on visual/ figural skills. This information has allowed me to fine tune our curriculum. I ask for more math pages to be done of the second-grader and have added the Reading Detective® to stretch his verbal and comprehension skills. I have moved my verbally strong daughter up a level in comprehension and literature analysis as well as slowing down on geometry concepts to allow for more hands on and discussion time. Thank you, Think-a-Minutes for such a valuable and fun diagnostic tool." - Melody

"When my daughter turned 3, we began Mathematical Reasoning™ Beginning... and finished it in less than two months! I was very pleased on how 'advanced' it was towards the end of the book - much better than the workbooks you find at WalMart, for example. She enjoyed the color and pictures and learned a lot of new concepts that really put her at a higher level in math. Now she is starting regular kindergarten math and we already need to skip most of the material since she understood it from her Mathematical Reasoning™ book! I plan on purchasing more math books for next summer!!! Definitely a success for her! Thank you!" - Karin, NY

"I am writing in regards to my student Patrick and his amazing test results with the Reading Detective® B1. Last school year his test scores showed that he had difficulty and scored Low Average in a few particular areas in reading: identify text, locate information, evaluating validity and credibility, and responding to text. His mother found the Reading Detective® and began working with Patrick over the summer. In August, I began working with Patrick and saw how not only he really enjoyed reading the passages, but his skills were growing by leaps and bounds! In September, he did our district MAPs (Measure of Academic Progress) test and every skill he was Low Average on last year he was NOW High Average to High! I cannot be more thrilled with these results! I am recommending the Reading Detective® to all my families who struggle in these areas of reading!" - Aly, KS

"I wanted to let everyone know at The Critical Thinking Co.™ how much your products have helped my four year old daughter. We purchased the Building Thinking Skills® Beginning book back in the spring, and have been working through it. She has learned so much from that book. I'm amazed at how she has caught on and comprehended sequencing, classification, half and whole parts, analogies, and more. I could go on and on about how much I love this book! I think it has placed her ahead for kindergarten next fall. Thank you again for your products. I plan on purchasing more for kindergarten." - Ildephonse, MN

"My mom started me on Building Thinking Skills® when I was about 5. She used the figural book as a special reward for when I'd finished my other homework. During my first year of college at UC Berkeley, we had isometric drawings for an engineering class. Many people found this to be the most difficult part of the course. I had been doing these exercises since kindergarten! I owe my A in that class to The Critical Thinking Co.™!" - Hillary, CA

"I just wanted to let all of you know at The Critical Thinking Co.™ how much your product has helped my 5-year-old daughter. We bought Mathmatical Reasoning™ Level A this summer. We are almost finished with it! Not because it's short and too easy. Far from it!! It is 250 pages of colorful, exciting activities. My daughter loves it! I have to limit the amount of pages she does each day or that is all she would do. She has learned so much! We both get excited when we turn the page just to see what comes next. Thank you for such a great product!" - Wanda & Maleigh, NC

"By using Reading Detective®, my daughter's reading comprehension test scores rose 20 percentile points over 2 years. Amazing! And we only did one book in that time and she has multiple learning disabilities!" - Monique, VA

"Everyone was amazed when my 11-year-old daughter saw a Rubik's Cube for the first time and immediately started working it. She had the first side completed in a flash! Our family thought she was brilliant, but I knew she had been happily developing her mind through Building Thinking Skills® since she was four. She is now finishing Level 2 and has a good head on her shoulders. Thank you for providing such wonderful materials!" - Jatina, OK

"A few weeks ago we introduced Building Thinking Skills® and Mathematical Reasoning™ to our almost three-year-old. He begs to do 'work' like his daddy, and so we finally gave in to some workbooks that would spiral the concepts in a logical order. We do about ten pages each day (he begs for more, though) and already we notice his confidence building with simple counting, line recognition, and problem solving. We are hooked and can't wait to try more books from your company as the pages captivate our son and teach him at the same time, all while he is feeling 'big' and confident in his knowledge. Thank you!" - Katie, MN

"I am a very proud grandma! My six-year-old grandson just loves your Math Detective® Beginning Software. He has even gotten 'in trouble' for sneaking over to 'play' on his computer after bedtime. How can you get mad at that?" - Anne, FL

"I teach 3-6 grade Gifted Math. Coming up with logical thinking for all grade levels is tough, but with the leveled Scratch Your Brain® Series, I can rely on Bell Works as a quick, fun, and challenging way to start each period. Many times, the students take the puzzles home to their parents and work on them together!" - Spencer, AZ

"Recently, we bought the Thinker Doodles Beginning book after having such great success with the Building Thinking Skills® and Mathematical Reasoning® books. Our son, three, has gone from not wanting to color or draw to begging for it each day. In the past, a blank coloring page was too much for him, and he would just sort crayons on top of the page and then call himself done. We were shocked since most kids love to color, and decided to try this book. The moment it arrived he was anxious to try it. We have been working with it daily and not only does he love finishing the pictures, he will actually sit and color the pages now once he completes the drawing! We are so pleased as parents to watch him finally explore his creative side, and take pride in his artwork! Definitely going to continue with this series!" - Katharyn, MN

"Our grade level uses the Dr. DooRiddles books to motivate our students to get ready to start the day. Students must have their backpacks put away, their pencils sharpened, etc. and be in their seats by a certain time in order to submit an answer to the riddle of the day. The responses go into a bucket and the teacher pulls one out-if the answer is correct, the student receives a prize. The teacher continues to pull names out until the correct answer is given. Students who are not seated and ready to start the day cannot participate. This has saved us valuable time because all of the students want a chance to decipher the riddle! As a bonus, we've had many students who have been inspired to write their own riddles for the class to solve" - Karen, TX

"My son is a struggling learner. He has a slight tendency toward dyslexia and he sometimes finds schoolwork frustrating and difficult. We have 2 other children who have grown up with The Critical Thinking Co.™, so we started our youngest on Thinker Doodles. It was his favorite part of the day! We then moved him to Mind Benders®, which helped him to think logically about what he reads. This has also helped him think before he reads words so that he can conquer his reading problems. It takes great concentration to see letters backwards and be able to recognize it and fix it before speaking.Now, we are working on the Building Thinking Skills® series. I have to say, without The Critical Thinking Co.™, my son would be behind on grade level. For many years, I used the Critical Thinking books and software to help my son prep for his standardized testing and for college prep tests. He has amazing grades! But now, I see the benefit of critical thinking for helping my youngest child organize what he sees and process it in his mind. His reading has improved tremendously since we began The Critical Thinking Co.™ products. And the best part of critical thinking is that it is always a favorite part of their school day. It will always be a part of our schedule." - Tammy, LA

"My mom bought our family Memory Challenge! Software a few months ago to play on the computer. Our whole family loves it. It has helped my dad & mom sharpen their memory and also me & my brother. It is fun to do together. We find ourselves laughing & enjoying ourselves, together. It has brought our family hours of enjoyment & helped us with our memory, especially the old folks! Ha!Ha!" - Maleigh, NC

"I have been very pleased to use your Reading Detective® and Math Detective® books in our homeschool this year. My daughter is an accelerated reader, and the Reading Detective® has really helped her learn to adjust her rate of speed, and to read for detail and analysis, as well as enjoyment. The reading selections include wonderful excerpts of children's literature, fiction, and non-fiction. I'm always pleased to hear my daughter giggle as she reads a humorous passage, or her excitement as she shares a newly found nugget of knowledge with me from that day's assignment--two more confirmations of reading comprehension! In regards to the Math Detective®, she has also had great success. The story or charts and graphs are engaging and challenging without being frustrating. The answers to questions and their proofs can be easily located with careful reading and observation. If I needed further "proof" of The Critical Thinking Co.™ product's success, her standardized test scores in both reading comprehension and math problem solving skills each increased by 20+ points this year. (And this only took 20 minutes of our time, two days a week. On alternating weeks we would either do Reading Detective® or Math Detective®.) Once my daughter reaches college and I head back to teach in the classroom, I'll be taking these wonderful resources with me!" - Amy, TX

"My son (10) is on the autism spectrum. He has a brilliant mind for facts and figures, but always struggled with his thought process. Mind Benders® and Building Thinking Skills® have given him solid direction in organizing his thoughts and following logical patterns. The progress my son has made in barely one year is incredible. No therapy or modification has come close to having such an impact in the 6 years since his diagnosis. There are no words to express how thankful we are for The Critical Thinking Co.™" - Carrie, PA

"The other day my son and I were having a discussion and in the middle of it, he pointed out something we have been talking about from our Critical Thinking text. He said, 'Remember what we talked about in Critical Thinking? Two people can have different meanings for the same word.' I love seeing him become a better thinker!" - Amy, AZ

"I have used The Critical Thinking Co.™ materials long before they were Critical Thinking - the company before. I began a system-wide program for the gifted, MERIT, and still use the materials today, as I teach in a school that is a result of my original program back in the l980s. Just ordered Daily Mind Builders™ because achieving value-added scores on standardized tests (Terra Nova) is most difficult with gifted children who score high anyway. I use The Critical Thinking Co.™ materials to reach my highest children as well as my "double exceptional" children - gifted and autistic. They work! And have worked for years and years. Bravo!" - Cynthia, TN

"My five-year-old daughter and I have become superhero 'Math Girls.' We set aside a few minutes several times a week to work on your Mathematical Reasoning™ books. She loves the books and begs me for more "Math Girls!" She calls it our "special time!" She is so proud that she is entering kindergarten in the fall and has completed the entire kindergarten math curriculum. We have just started on the first grade Mathematical Reasoning™ book. She loves mathematics so much because of the fun activities in the books! Thanks!" - Linda, NJ

"As a third grade teacher, I loved the Reading Detective® software. I had 5 computers in my room, and if students made 100 on our practice TAKS test, they were allowed to "play" Reading Detective® while the others had to go over their mistakes on the paper with me. Everyone's goal was to make 100 so they could do Reading Detective®." - Nita, TX

"We tried Word Benders™ in our workbox from our homeschool group recommendation. Oh my gosh....my child loved them. Never seen her have such fun trying to figure them out. I am definitely gonna make this part of our curriculum now." - Renee, TN

"It's been raining ALL day today, but that did not stop us from going outside to drop our shampoo bottles filled with different quantities of sand from a height! (Activity 43 "Falling Bodies-Does Weight Make a Difference" from Developing Critical Thinking Through Science Book 2.) I am SO impressed with this material! I wish I'd had it sooner. Preparation time is minimal and what's required is very reasonable and achievable. The activities invariably lead to more discussion and practical application of the principles demonstrated. It's not just my 15- and 11-year-olds who are learning. I am, too!! I am SO, SO impressed!!!!! We love it!!!" - Jenny, Australia

"We homeschool our children and our oldest daughter (16) is taking dual-credit classes at our local community college. She was in an English class and the teacher asked the class about a meaning of a word and under her breath she was breaking it down like her Word Roots program would have her do. The professor overheard her and asked her what she was saying and she told him she had studied words and she was using the root word to figure out the word. The class was impressed along with the professor. She came home and told us and the other children who made sure to use the program the rest of the semester." - Debbie, IL

"I have purchased numerous amounts of your software down through the years and I have found them to be engaging for the students that I teach. I am a remedial teacher, and the students that I have, had been very successful using some of the following products: Math Detective®, Memory Challenge!,and the Think Analogy™ Puzzles." - Julia, TX

"I home school my two children, ages 7 and 12, and have added Balance Benders™ and Mind Benders® to our curriculum this year. I entered our kitchen the other day, only to find my children in a heated debate, hands waving, pointing, heads shaking. They were working on a Balance Benders™ challenge and were flustered about finding the third correct answer. Finally, after I joyfully watched the scene for a few moments, my son (age 7) said, 'Hey Mom, we found a mistake. This one <pointing> would work, except the square is completely black. It should only be gray and cut in half like the one up here. You should call the company.' So, I did; and they were right. My children had used logic and reasoning, exactly the skills these puzzle challenges develop, to discover the mistake. The best part is, they were confident enough in their decision to question the authority of the book. Can you hear me cheering now?My children love these 'Bender' books; in fact, I would not be exaggerating if I said they were addicted to them. I sincerely thank you for a product that makes what can be extremely difficult skills to master an absolute blast for my children.On a side note, I would like to mention that I am a doctoral candidate in education at Northeastern University, and have recommended these products to peers and colleagues as the best of the best." - Joan, MA

"Just this evening my second-grade son mentioned something was the hardest question ever, and being the typical aggravating older child, my other son said, 'Multiplication is harder; what's 9X4?' I gently said to the younger, 'You don't have to know the answer. Just tell us what 9X4 means.' To which my brilliant mental mathematician shocked us all when he replied, 'Well, what's 40-4?'" - Nicole, NM

"Although my son is quite bright, home school time was a nightmare. He knew how to do what I was asking, but refused to do the work. Then, I switched all of his curriculum to The Critical Thinking Co.™. THIS YEAR IS GREAT!!! He can't wait for school to begin and often wants to do extra work. He loves the challenge that The Critical Thinking Co.™ curriculum provides. He will often let out a huge sigh at the end of our school day and rub his head. Thank you for providing great products for great thinkers!" - Maggie, GA

"Oh, no...not vocabulary again. As a homeschool mom and parent who tries to carefully craft curriculum, vocabulary was not a favorite...UNTIL we found The Critical Thinking Co.'s™ Word Roots workbooks. My son is now looking forward to vocabulary, and even inventing his own words based on roots he has studied. His spelling, also, has been improving because this text breaks down roots, prefixes and suffixes so my son is breaking down words to formulate the correct spelling. We are very happy to have found this product." - Carol, MD

"I have purchased numerous amounts of your software through the years and I have found them to be engaging for the students that I teach. I am a remedial teacher and the students have been very successful using the following products: Math Detective®, Memory Challenge!, and ThinkAnalogy™ Puzzles." - Julia, TX

"My oldest son enjoyed math when he first started school, but soon became frustrated when he couldn't make the connection between the problems on the page and real life. I decided to try Mathematical Reasoning™ Level D because it looked as though it would bridge that gap. Two weeks into it, and my son wants to do more math each day than what I assign him! He is really enjoying working the problems because they now make sense." - Stephanie, TN

"We send our kids to the public school. While the school is great overall, there are some gaps we try to fill at home. Resources from The Critical Thinking Co.™ help us to do this easily, without being a drain to our kids." - Amy, MO

"I am a gifted intervention specialist in a rural public school. About 4 years ago my 7th-grade group read, Nothing But the Truth, by Avi. It is a novel which includes several different points of view. After my first group read it, the discussion did not go well. The students did not try to understand the different points of view of the main characters. The next year, I taught them critical thinking skills using Critical Thinking Book One from The Critical Thinking Co.™. This year, the students were able to have a great discussion as they were able to 'get' the points of view of others. I have continued to use these books." - Barb, OH

"I congratulate The Critical Thinking Co.™ on the superb job you do of preparing children to think in a fun way. Three years ago, my daughter was recommended for advanced placement testing, and my husband and I wanted to do everything possible for her to prepare her for the testing. I called The Critical Thinking Co.™ after doing some research and had an in-depth conversation with you about the materials you would advise us to use in a short amount of time. I found the books to be very helpful, and guided me beyond the in-home instruction I was able to piece together. I am pleased to say that Lauren placed in the advanced program, and has benefited since then from the The Critical Thinking Co.™ materials! Thank you so much." - Leslie, PA

"In January of 2010, I went for a mammogram and came home with not great results. I sat my kids down to tell them the news and what type of cancer I had. Cystosarcoma phyllodes. My daughter blurted out, 'oh, that means it has a leaflike growth structure.' It was so great that she recognized the Greek root from the Word Roots books and that it helped them to understand exactly what was going on. As I went through my procedures, some of my registered nurses hadn't even heard of that type of tumor. Maybe they should use Word Roots as part of their continuing ed. courses." - Shannon, CO

"Using The Critical Thinking Co.™ books since our 7-year-old son was young has enabled him to understand mathematical concepts at an early age. Just 7 years old and he is starting 4th-grade math. Critical thinking skills have given him independence of thought. Thank you!" - Christine, MT

"Thank you The Critical Thinking Co.™. Because of you my daughter scored 98 percentile in the CogAT®. I knew she had potential, but as a first-time mom I didn't know how to challenge her; how to fulfill her needs. The books certainly helped her a lot and gave me a direction for taking appropriate steps. Thank you so much." - SP, TX

"We gave Thinker Doodles to our kids (a 6-year-old girl & a 5-year-old boy) for Christmas. They both love them!! You say it is the SMART Coloring Book. It is that & a whole lot more. It makes them think, but all they know is they are having fun! The books were very affordable & worth every penny. Thank you!" - Wanda, NC

"I use the Mind Benders® and Critical Thinking books a great deal. I used to be a full-time classroom teacher, and then moved into college (adjunct) faculty positions and part-time tutoring. The materials are applicable to all levels and classes--when I start class with a Mind Bender® the students jump right in and are excited about learning. I incorporate the critical thinking skills throughout all the curriculum, and immediately see the students' mathematical reasoning skills improve. It's great to have resources like your company provides, because they augment and supplement the textbook problems--generally, they are more interesting! Thank you for providing the materials!" - Marie, TN

"My 6th-grade homeschooled daughter completed Building Thinking Skills® Level 1 and 2 by the end of her 5th-grade year, so I decided to go ahead and try the Level 3 books her 6th-grade year, despite the suggested age of 7-12th grades. She has been very successful with the challenge, and thanks to consistent practice that these books provide, breezed through her ITBS® and CogAT® tests this month. We use the Level 3 Verbal book daily, one page a day, and the Level 3 Figural book only 3 days a week, one page a day. This schedule isn't overwhelming, and has taken us half-way through each of the books this year, and will allow her to finish them her 7th-grade year. She still looks forward to her 'Thinkers' time every day, and her test scores continue to show measurable improvement on a yearly basis. I have highly recommended this series to other parents, and will continue to do so once I return to teach in the public school classroom!" - Amy, TX

"We use The Critical Thinking Co.™ products as part of our homeschool curriculum. The Mathematical Reasoning™ book has been a wonderful tool. The instructions are easy enough for my kindergartner to read to himself. My son loves math now!" - Elisha, SD

"When my seven year-old daughter emerged from taking the SCAT, I asked her what helped her for the test. Without hesitation she replied: 'Think Analogies®.' Based on her SCAT results, she qualified for the Johns Hopkins CTY with high honors." - Kathleen, NJ

"My daughter was chosen for advanced academics, thanks to the books by The Critical Thinking Co.™. Every fortnight I log on to CriticalThinking.com to find more books for my kids and friends' kids. As a school teacher, critical thinking is a big help in my personal and professional life." - Samrudhi, VI

"We have 'clubs' at our school, and I have made a 'Girls Who Love Science' club. In this club we use the Critical Thinking books, Mind Benders®, and Red Herring Mysteries books. I also use the Red Herrings at the end of the class if we have 5 or 10 extra minutes. The kids love the questions. They try to finish early and remind me to do a Red Herring Mysteries activity." - Melissa, FL

"We have been using Critical Thinking products for three years with our now 7-year-old son. We love the concept of logic and thinking outside the box that critical thinking develops. We bring Mind Benders® and Dr. DooRiddles with us everywhere and enjoy doing them together as a family. I love the Language Smarts™ and Mathematical Reasoning™ curriculum. My son enjoys them very much and can follow the simple instructions with ease. Thanks to critical thinking, my son breezes through and scores high on his standardized and placement tests. Thank you so much for your wonderful material! I always recommend The Critical Thinking Co.™ when I am asked for recommendations." - Brenda, SC

"I am a teacher of the gifted and our primary goal is teaching our students critical thinking techniques. I find your products excellent resources." - Bonnie, GA

"I've used the Building Thinking Skills® sets for 3 of my children (grades 1st, 3rd, 5th) and it has helped immensely in preparing them for our state standardized testing, mandatory for all 3rd graders. My eldest not only passed the exam but received commended ratings. The Word Roots set of books also has helped my 5th grader in her current English class. When asked who had been exposed to Greek & Latin root words, she was ecstatic to be the only one in the class to know what was being introduced in class and has breezed through the subject. Thank you, I plan on using these and other materials for the rest of my children as they progress through school." - Gina, TX

"Brilliant! That is the only word that I could think to use for the mind expanding, creativity building, thinking skills enhancing software! Honestly, I have been homeschooling my two daughters for 5 years and it has taken me this long to find your products!! I am in love with the Editor in Chief®, Word Roots, Math Detective®, and Mind Benders® software. I have spent years trying to get my children to really understand mathematical concepts, this has done it! I can't wait to try Spider Island! Learning to proofread with Editor in Chief®, has made grammar so much easier and entertaining for them! It has been really hard to find good, quality software until now. I thank you for opening my eyes to your curriculum by sending me that first catalog." - Kristy, WA

"We have a 6-year-old boy with both expressive and receptive language disorder. We bought the Hands-On Thinking Skills book as a supplement to his math program. We can't believe what a difference it has made. He had a hard time following directions because he didn't understand in all subjects. Now we can explain it and then show him, as well. He is able to use the manipulatives to follow the directions and now his speech is improving, as well, because he now can see the manipulatives, move them, understands it, and is now verbalizing it. It has carried over and helped him in his current math program. Everyone has been telling us how much more he talks recently. This has only been in 2 months and only 82 pages in. We are excited about finishing the book and buying more." - Jennie, OH

"When my children were 10 and 13, I purchased your Word Roots A1 Software on a whim at a homeschool conference. I intended to use it to strengthen their vocabulary skills throughout the next year. I brought it home and they finished the program in two weeks. I promptly ordered A2 and B1. They finished both of those before the summer was over. My then 10 year old son is now 14, and he announced to me recently that he needed to review the programs. That decision is entirely of his own accord. His younger brother who is now ten requested only two things he really wants. Science Detective® and Math Detective®. We already have Editor in Chief®. My children highly recommend your products based on their own satisfaction." - Barbara, AZ

"My third, fourth, and fifth grade students just love discovering the 'rest of the story' in the Red Herring Mysteries, and I just love how it has taught them to think outside the box. The students now understand that one word can have several meanings. They beg to hear a Red Herring Mystery if we finish a lesson early." - Pamela, GA

"I was struggling with teaching algebra. The Balance Math™ books broke it down into bite size pieces. They finally got it! I like the color and space in the elementary books. I will definitely be buying more." - Twila, Homeschoolbuyersco-op.org Member

"I LOVE The Critical Thinking Co. - I've purchased several items from them in the past, and have NEVER been disappointed.  The materials are always top quality, well written, concise, and easy to use.  I've purchased both software and traditional books for my kids to learn logic, analogies, Latin roots, and critical thinking strategies.  Unlike some websites, the sample pages for TCTCo. always give you a clear example of what you'll get in your purchase, so there's never any doubt about the product you'll be receiving." - Tiff C., Homeschoolbuyersco-op.org Member

"I identified Reading Comprehension as a weakness in my 9 year old son when doing test prep for the Stanfords. I decided to have him work through Reading Detective® RX for a few months leading up to the test. At first he was getting most the questions wrong but after a while he started catching on. I just received his test scores and reading comprehension moved from a weakness to a strength. He scored in the 97th percentile." - Isha Youhas, VA

"I have used the Reading Detective® in my third grade classroom and love the way it is introduced so that my students must go back to text to verify their answer. Kids these days don't want to take the time to go back to text which the state tests require they do." - Debbie McDonald, Indiana

"Our oldest son is starting college this fall on a FULL RIDE academic scholarship! He was home schooled since kindergarten and we heavily used The Critical Thinking Co.™ products since the beginning. He scored in the top 2% in the nation on both the PSAT and SAT. I know it is because of all the critical thinking books we used over the years. Now our second son will be sitting for the PSAT this fall and he is already scoring in the top 1% on his practice tests!" - Sandy, ID

"For over 34 years I have taught gifted and high-achieving children and young adults. When I created MERIT, a program that pulled gifted students for one day a week, I used The Critical Thinking Co.™ materials exclusively. Mind Benders®, Critical Thinking, etc. Today I am retired and use your materials... especially for bright autistic students, and my 'twice exceptional' students. Without a doubt, your company's materials have helped me become one of Tennessee's two National Teachers' Hall of Fame inductees! I owe a lot to your wonderful and unique materials." - Cynthia, TN

"Love these books!! My 6 children have gone from being bored, disinterested students to excited happy learners. It is common for them to ask to do extra lessons instead of wanting to be done as soon as possible. Math is a new favorite subject!" - Sharon, WI

The Critical Thinking Co. carries our favorite critical thinking books.  We love the variety of books they offer which challenge my kids in a variety of ways.  Critical thinking is a favorite subject at our house and my kids look forward to the challenges that are provided in a fun way. I highly recommend them and the Co-op offers them at a good price. - Karri C., Homeschool Buyers Co-op Member

We consider your products to be the best on the market bar none. - Selwyn, New York

I have used critical thinking books with my daughter since she was 3 years old. I like Mathematical Reasoning and Language Smarts books very much because they encourage my child to think. These books are terrific. They are a great way for kids to use math and also think abstractly. My daughter found it fun. These books helped my daughter get accepted into an advanced math class. Thank you so much for creating these amazing books for children. - Maya, CA

"You wouldn't think something so fun could have such a profound effect on your thought process! Mind Benders® sharpen organizational and informational processing skills as well as strengthen reading skills." - Merrilee Defoe, Reviewer

"We didn't know that grammar could actually be fun until we received Editor in Chief®. My son would read a short passage, which also contained a picture and caption, and then he’d correct the passage by using the 'clues' on the right. It’s like detective work, which really appealed to my son." - Leah, Sunny Southwest U.S.

"Word Roots is everything I was searching for and more. It goes beyond spelling tests and teaches students to decipher words based upon prefixes, suffixes, and roots. The focus is on meaning, which in turn increases comprehension." - Cecilia, NC

"We did an experiment to see if Building Thinking Skills® would help students perform better on standardized and state tests. The improvement was remarkable. Test scores went up even after the first few months!" - Joel, Principal, NC

"The fun thing about Mathematical Reasoning™ is that every page is a little different. No rote facts or boredom here! Mix that in with a few game-like activities and lots of colors and pictures, and they had my kiddo hooked." - Michele, Virginia

"U.S. History Detective® is fabulous. You have to do more than just figure out the correct answer -- you have to give the sentence number(s) that best supports your answer. I love that. You have to read the text and support your conclusions." - Debra, CO

"I love the Language Smarts™ curriculum. My son enjoys it very much and can follow the simple instructions with ease. Thanks to The Critical Thinking Co.™, my son scores high on his standardized and placement tests." - Brenda, South Carolina

"Reading Detective® is the best reading comprehension teaching material I have found! I love that your material teaches the student HOW to comprehend, and how to look for the answers in the text. I love your evidence-seeking approach!" - Sarah, MO

"The wealth of game-like activities and colorful illustrations in Fun-Time Phonics!™ make it feel like play rather than work, allowing kids to enjoy themselves while acquiring the skills and confidence that lead to fluency." - Tillywig, Brain Child Award Review

"My children love Balance Benders™; in fact, I would not be exaggerating if I said they were addicted to them. I sincerely thank you for a product that makes what can be extremely difficult skills to master an absolute blast for my children." - Joan, Massachusetts

I've been using your publications since you were Midwest Publications in the 1970s and 1980s. I have used them with both gifted children and in the regular classroom as well. I am retired now but still work with gifted children on a regular basis. I still make use of many of your series and still have Mind Benders (orginally B1-3 and C1-3). They are every bit as wonderful now as they were back then. - Bob Eldridge, Old Tappan NJ

I just want to say, The Critical Thinking Co. is one of the best, highest-quality educational publishers to ever exist. Please do not EVER stop publishing these amazing materials. - Maya Evans, Ohio

I've purchased a number of TCTC products, and I'm highly pleased with each one! They offer creative, engaging materials that get my students thinking in new ways and develop their skills in reading, writing, math, and problem solving. I've spent countless hours in the past creating similar materials for my students, and I'm so thankful to have found The Critical Thinking Co! - Kerri Anderson, Kansas

This is our first year using The Critical Thinking Co. as a full Curriculum for our boys, ages 10, 9 and 6. We are beyond impressed. My boys have never been so happy to do school and it's almost daily they will tell me how much they love their books. They are thriving, loving school, loving all their books, asking for more books to be purchased. This curriculum is so impressive. The way the books are structured helps kids retain the information they are learning, sparks curiosity and its not boring, like some we have used in the past. I will never buy anything else. Thank you for creating a curriculum that kids of any age would find amazing. - Tina Hooker, CO

"Making the decision to homeschool my son was scary business. Although I had a post graduate degree I'd never taken the first class in education theory. A teacher recommended the Mind Benders® product and I quickly learned about all the other wonderful products offered by The Critical Thinking Company™. I discovered that I had developed my own educational theories and one most dear to my heart was to encourage my son to think as opposed to memorize temporarily. We have used many of the products for math, reading and language arts, and enjoyed them all, but Mind Benders® remains my son's favorite. "Please, Mom, Can't I do one more?" He asks every time we complete a problem. That truly brings a smile to this homeschool mom's face!! Thank you, thank you to all the writers and illustrators who make these great learning tools that are so much fun." - Elizabeth, TX

"When my children were 10 and 13, I purchased your Word Roots A1 software on a whim at a homeschool conference. I intended to use it to strengthen their vocabulary skills throughout the next year. I brought it home and they finished the program in two weeks. I promptly ordered A2 and B1. They finished both of those before the summer was over. My then 10 year old son is now 14, and he announced to me recently that he needed to review the programs. That decision is entirely of his own accord. His younger brother who is now ten requested only two things he really wants. Science Detective® and Math Detective®. We already have Editor in Chief®. My children highly recommend your products based on their own satisfaction." - Barbara, AZ

"We use The Critical Thinking Co.™ products as part of our homeschool curriculum. The Mathematical Reasoning™ book has been a wonderful tool. The instructions are easy enough for my kindergartner to read to himself. My son loves math now!" - Elisha, SD

"I recently ordered a few of your books as part of my 1st graders homeschooling curriculum and I am SO IMPRESSED that I just had to let you know. My son loves doing the work and it is really making a difference in his thought process. I could go on and on, I am just so happy to have found your company and look forward to a long relationship with you." - Krista, MD

"My 6th-grade homeschooled daughter completed Building Thinking Skills® Level 1 and 2 by the end of her 5th-grade year, so I decided to go ahead and try the Level 3 books her 6th-grade year, despite the suggested age of 7-12th grades. She has been very successful with the challenge, and thanks to consistent practice that these books provide, breezed through her ITBS and Cogat tests this month. We use the Level 3 Verbal book daily, one page a day, and the Level 3 Figural book only 3 days a week, one page a day. This schedule isn't overwhelming, and has taken us half-way through each of the books this year, and will allow her to finish them her 7th-grade year. She still looks forward to her 'Thinkers' time every day, and her test scores continue to show measurable improvement on a yearly basis. I have highly recommended this series to other parents, and will continue to do so once I return to teach in the public school classroom!" - Amy, TX

Resources for Homeschooling Parents

100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum The Well Trained Mind The Old Schoolhouse The LINK Homeschool Magazine Home-School.com Homeschool.com State Homeschool Associations

This resource list includes websites and companies that are not necessarily affiliated with or endorsed by The Critical Thinking Co.™

Homeschooling Articles & Advice

Are Your Kids Exceeding State And Federal Standards? Involved Parents Make A Big Difference Reading Critically Between The Lines Clever Ideas for Smart Summertime Fun! Parents: A Child's First & Best Resource For Learning Build Confidence And A Love Of Learning! Problem-Solving: What Skills Are Really Involved? Turn Game Time Into Brain Time Learning How To Learn: The Key To Success

7sistershomeschool.com

Homeschool Help and Curriculum

Critical Thinking Skills for Homeschoolers

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Critical thinking means evaluating an issue to form a judgment about it. A simple definition would be: thinking about the thinking behind something.  Critical Thinking means challenging assumptions, those of other people and those in your own mind.

Critical Thinking for Homeschoolers

It’s important to equip homeschoolers with the observational and critical thinking skills that will make them great thinkers because these skills will serve them in all arenas for the rest of their lives.

Sure, some academic learning requires the memorization of facts that must simply be spit back to prove mastery of the material. But many subjects like literature, history, science, and social sciences are exciting places to instead focus on the art and skill of critical thinking.

What is critical thinking?

The definition of critical thinking is: the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue or of information in order to form a judgment.

Critical thinking skills are so very important for homeschool high schoolers! They had some good role models in the past:

Socrates was a Greek philosopher who loved conversation with his students.  His idea of good teaching was to encourage his students to think for themselves rather than to simply repeat back what they had heard from him or any other teacher.  He would ask them questions, and more questions, and more questions, until they would come to a wise conclusion. Sounds like a good approach to me!

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin tried to help young America to develop critical thinking skills. He famously wrote: “It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.”

Poor questions lead to poor critical thinking but good questions lead to good critical thinking

Counter-culture leader Timothy Leary later completely misused that idea in the late 1960’s in the United States. A Harvard professor, he questioned authority all the time while encouraging his students to experiment with drugs like LSD. Made sense to him but proved to be faulty critical thinking.

However, going back to Socrates, he probably provided the richest, most intelligent application of the healthy way of questioning authority a couple thousand years ago. It was the questioning leading to wisdom that made his questioning good. Questions that lead to wisdom are good questions that develop critical thinking for homeschoolers even today.

Give your teens an introduction to critical thinking with Socrates with  7Sisters literature study guide to accompany Books I and II of Plato’s Republic . Plato was a student of Socrates, and it is from his ancient writings that we have the most information about this wise and influential teacher. 

7Sisters Literature Study Guide for Plato’s Republic follows our no-busywork format. Like all our user-friendly guides, instead of attempting to examine every element of a book, Plato’s Republic study guide chooses a couple of respected literary devices and use them as a focal point of study (in this case:

• expository writing
• delves into the philosophical ideas debated
• evaluates Socratic method of instruction by dialogue

These lead to critical thinking skills development.

Like all our guides, The Republic of Plato contains information that makes it easy to adapt for use for teens with varying interests, abilities and needs:

• Average High School
• College Prep or
• Honors level

This product downloads as two separate PDF files. One file is intended for student use. This document contains fillable fields so students can type their answers directly into the guide. The other document is the answer key, intended for the parent.

Godly critical thinking for homeschoolers

I remember seeing graffiti once that said, “Question Authority.” Underneath, some other person with no respect for bathroom walls had written, “What will you do if Authority answers?” As a Christian, I want my children to grow up questioning authority in an appropriate way.  Before you decide I’m a heretic who is raising a generation of heretics, allow me to explain.

God loves conversation.  He is not made uncomfortable by questions. Over and over again in the Bible we see people who were eager to follow after God who dared to ask Him questions.  Our limited human minds, muddled by sin, lack the perfect understanding to always understand God’s wisdom.  God invites, even encourages us to question Him when we do not understand.  That questioning must be done in an attitude of humility, because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but it is not a sign of weak faith when we question Him because we TRULY DESIRE to hear His answer.

There are many earthly authorities, and none of them are right in EVERYthing they are saying.  My children are growing up with the internet.  Things that are published on the internet appear to speak with authority. They need the ability to discern truth from error regardless of the tone of authority in which something may be asserted.

By helping my students to observe and think critically about

• the literature they are reading
• the historical accounts they are studying
• the current events they are observing
• the scientific research they are examining

I can be much less afraid that their minds will be ruined by exposure to something contrary to God’s word.  As students grow in wisdom and approach adulthood, I can equip them for thinking critically about the many words that will be spoken to them with authority, genuine or feigned.

And as far as the bathroom graffiti goes, doesn’t it stand to reason that students who question authority in an appropriate manner will RECOGNIZE and RESPECT it when true Authority answers?  God loves to reveal truth to those who seek Him!

For a World History e-text full of encouragement for critical thinking, take a look at History and Philosophy of the Western World. This was my youngest son’s favorite History course in high school. Great stuff! Follow up the next year with Philosophy in 4 Questions (the basic how-to’s of philosophy for beginnings, believe it or not, this text makes it FUN). 

Want to get started with critical thinking for your homeschoolers? Read this fun post about textbook errors from our friend, Susan at The Sparrow’s Home.

Now you can start critical thinking for your homeschoolers! They will be better prepared for life!

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Sabrina Justison

Well, bless your heart. What we always say is: There’s not ONE right way to homeschool.

Some interesting explanations Too much emphasis on the socrates/plato foundation for learning

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Critical Thinking: How to Develop It at Home and at School

What is critical thinking? It’s a way of reasoning and questioning things to help us make better decisions. We’ll explain what critical thinking is and how you can improve it daily. You’ll also learn how to boost a child’s critical thinking at school! Andrea Garcia Cerdan explains below.

What is critical thinking? It’s the ability to think clearly and rationally, and understand the logical connection between ideas. Critical thinking allows us to think independently and reflexively.

Thinking critically requires the ability to reason and learn actively, not passively. This means taking an active approach to learning information , rather than just letting the information reach you.

People with developed critical thinking skills question ideas and thoughts and don’t take everything they hear as fact. They work to get a rounded view of an argument or idea, research and thinking reasonably about each possibility, and welcome a contradictory view. They don’t see an argument as something negative, but rather a chance to grow and learn.

Characteristics of a critical thinker :

• Understands the connections between ideas
• Determines the importance of these ideas
• Recognizes and creates valid arguments
• Identifies inconsistencies and reasoning errors
• Approaches problems consistently and systematically
• Reflects on their own beliefs, thoughts, and values

Critical thinking is a great decision-making tool, but that doesn’t mean that we always have to think critically because not every decision is important. Think about it: you could think critically about whether you’re going to eat salmon or chicken, but probably not a life-changing decision. When you’re in one of these situations where you have to make a decision, it’s better to be intuitive than critical. You’ll save time and psychological resources that you could be using to solve another problem.

How can you boost critical thinking?

1.don’t believe everything you hear.

The first step to improving your critical thinking skills is to evaluate the information that you receive on a daily basis. Before doing something based on information that someone else told you, do your own research! Think about the problem and what possible solutions may be. Need some help coming up with answers? Maybe you want to improve your creative thinking as well ! You have to decide for yourself what you want to do and what you believe is best, and evaluating all of the possibilities is a great way to do that.

2. Define you goals

What do you want to do? What’s your goal? How are you going to make it happen? Knowing what the goal is is an important part of creating a plan to get it done.

3. Research

We’re constantly being bombarded with information which can sometimes be overwhelming, but this constant information can actually help you make better decisions . When you’re faced with a problem or decision that you’re not sure about, look online, ask a forum, read a book, watch a documentary, or get in touch with someone who might be able to help you. Look at different opinions and arguments and look at it from all sides. The more information you have, the better prepared you’ll be to make a good decision.

4. Don’t assume that you’re always right

Everyone loves being right. It makes us feel like we know everything and can be a mood booster. But thinking that other arguments and ideas aren’t valid closes our eyes to other points of view. Your thoughts, ideas, and beliefs are just one possible solution, but there are other equally valid ideas that you should get to know and respect . Open your mind to other perspectives.

5. Don’t complicate things

There is a line of thinking that’s often used in scientific research when they’re trying to figure out which hypothesis is correct. It’s called Occam’s razor, and it’s the idea that when there is more than one possible answer, go with the simpler one until proven false.

6. Divide the problem into parts

When you’re faced with a difficult problem, try to break it up into smaller, more manageable parts. You’ll find it easier to evaluate and take on each different part of the puzzle on it’s own.

Developing Critical Thinking in the Classroom

One of the most important things that we can teach our children is showing them how to think, argue, research, and make their own ideas and opinions about diverse topics. Learning to do this as children will make it easier to do as adults, when the decisions and topics are more serious and have potentially serious consequences. Learning to how to question things and not believe every word they hear, read, see, etc. will help them make their own decisions in the future.

So, how can we help develop critical thinking skills at school?

1. Group work

Working as a team helps children learn to think. When they’re surrounded by classmates and have to work together to talk about their ideas and thoughts, not only will they be exposed to other ideas, but they’ll have a chance to form their own opinion.

2. Let them use their creativity

Creativity is a skill that we have since birth, but using it more helps us develop and strengthen it. Learning to use creativity to solve problems can help us come up with ideas that we might not have thought of before, which is why it’s so important to use in a classroom. Instead of giving kids instructions to something, let them try to figure out how to do it on their own. Give them space to problem solve and use different theories to get the job done without a specific plan.

3. Don’t run to their aid right away

Children will get used to having things done for them. If they try to do something and ask for help, you might be inclined to solve the problem for them, which will inhibit their ability to problem solve on their own. It’s better to let them struggle and think of the answer on their own rather then run in and save them right away. For example, if they’re having trouble with a math problem, ask them questions to help them figure it out on their own.

4. Have brainstorming sessions

Brainstorming is a great way to help develop critical thinking. It helps the child reason and see different possibilities and points of view. Ask them questions like: “What is the book about? or What do you think you’re going to learn in this chapter?

5. Compare and contrast

A great way to help students learn to think critically is to let them compare and contrast the information that they have available to them. It can be about anything-books, hobbies, favorite x. You can do the same thing with a pro and con list.

6. Ask them questions

Asking questions helps students reflect and apply what they’ve learned to a real situation, which will help them consolidate the information and create an informed response . You can ask things like: “Do you agree with this? Which option do you think is better? Explain why you think this happened. Try to avoid questions with a yes or no answer and make them think and develop a response.

7. Let them debate

Debated are a great tool to help students reflect and thinking about a topic and develop opinions about what they’re learning.

A good way to promote critical thinking is to let each child defend an opinion. Do you think we should have uniforms at school? Break the kids into groups or assign each one a side to take and let them debate.

The video below will give you some more great ideas to improve critical thinking. Check it out!

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Home School (Grades K-12)

"...the intellect, which has been disciplined to the perfection of its powers, which knows, and thinks while it knows, which has learned to leaven the dense mass of facts and events with the elastic force of reason, such an intellect cannot be partial, cannot be exclusive, cannot be impetuous, cannot be at a loss, cannot but be patient, collected and majestically calm, because it discerns the end in every beginning, the origin in every end, the law in every interruption, the limit in each delay; because it ever knows where it stands, and how its path lies from one point to another . John Henry Newman, The Idea of a University, 1852

Kindergarten through 3rd Grade

LINKS FOR YOUNG STUDENTS

• For Young Students (Elementary/K-6)
• Children's Guide Video Series (K-6)

Junior High and High School Home Study

The Joy of Teaching

Sharing creative ideas and lessons to help children learn.

Critical and Creative Thinking Homeschool Curriculum Guide

August 17, 2017 by Evan-Moor | 0 comments

Click here to download Evan-Moor’s Critical and Creative Thinking Homeschool Curriculum Guide.

Critical and creative thinking skills are fabulous tools that kids can use to apply the skills they have learned.

If you are looking for resources for your kids to practice critical and creative thinking skills, Evan-Moor has resources that are kid-approved!

Each of these Evan-Moor titles invite kids to use thinking skills in realistic ways with simple activities.

There are a variety of ways you can use each of these Evan-Moor titles in some engaging activities throughout your homeschool day.

For a quick warm-up to your school day, Critical and Creative Thinking Activities offers imaginative activities to motivate students as they practice thinking in multiple ways.

The book is organized by theme-based topics that interest kids.

The pages are just the right balance of fun and challenge that kids can accomplish. My kids ask to do extra pages because they enjoy these books so much!

When you are ready to teach your child strategies for both logic and creativity, Thinking Skills is a great choice. Thinking Skills teaches your child creative, critical, and logical thinking skills with fun and engaging activities.

It is organized into short units that focus on a specific type of thinking skill. Each unit includes a teaching guide and shares ideas of modeling and practicing the thinking skills that go with each unit.

One of my absolute favorite Evan-Moor titles is Hands-on Thinking Activities . My kids enjoy these activities so much that they think we are just playing games! It makes logic and problem-solving a delight.

First, we do the activity together. Most of the time the kids can figure out the puzzle themselves, and I am there just to ask a guided question if needed.

They always ask to play it again after they are finished.

Then, I put the activity in our rotation of independent activities. For example, the kids can use these fun activities as a review activity in our workboxes.

Here is a blog post I did about using Hands-on Thinking Activities in our homeschooling.

Skill Sharpeners: Critical Thinking is organized into kid-friendly units. Each of the units practice a variety of critical thinking skills, which are listed on each activity page.

There is also a “Test Your Skills” page that can be used as an assignment if needed.

Both Hands-on Thinking Activities and Skills Sharpeners: Critical Thinking have colorful, hands-on activities that are great for workboxes!

ONE FINAL NOTE:

  For additional guides by subject area, see Homeschool Curriculum Resources and Guides.

If you want to use any of these resources in your homeschooling, you can buy each of these titles individually.

You can also access all of the lessons in these books in Evan-Moor’s TeacherFileBox .

TeacherFileBox is a digital collection of lesson plans and activities from over 450 Evan-Moor titles in all subject areas. We use it every day of our homeschooling!

Click here to learn more about accessing TeacherFileBox instantly for $13/month or $99/year.

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Why Logic and Critical Thinking Matter in the Homeschool

Yes, logic and critical thinking really do matter. A lot, in fact.

We all want children who can stop and think before they act, right? That takes logic and critical thinking. And, I bet at least one of your homeschooling goals is to raise a well-rounded child who can transition into successful adulthood. Well, that adult will need a healthy dose of logic and critical thinking ability.

Purposeful training in thinking skills can go such a long way in the now and later moments!

I received free curricula and compensation from The Critical Thinking Co. for my time spent writing this post. As always, my opinions are strictly my own and from the heart.

What are logic and critical thinking?

Logical thinking and critical thinking are very similar. In logic, a problem or situation is analyzed through pretty straightforward inductive and/or deductive reasoning in order to form a reasonable conclusion. (Picture a detective looking at the evidence.)

Critical thinking tends to be a little more subjective. A conclusion is reached after more than “just the facts” are considered. The inductive and deductive reasoning skills of logic are assessed with an open mind to consider other factors like observations and past experiences. (Picture a detective talking to witnesses and looking at the prior histories of a suspect.)

All of that sounds pretty hifalutin, but it’s really not. In fact, you can begin teaching these thinking skills as early as preschool!

Why do logic and critical thinking skills matter?

We all desire for our children to be able to think and act independently and reasoning skills are one of the keys to that independence. Whether we need our children to make good decisions with friends or simply finish an assignment without our help, arming them with thinking skills makes a huge difference.

The best part – when we offer our children a chance to practice these skills, they eventually become second nature. In other words, our children begin to simply figure things out and act on them clearly without too much serious thought.

I also love that logic and critical thinking naturally promote higher-order thinking skills. We should all strive to include higher-order thinking skills in everyday homeschooling. These specific skills take children from a basic level of remembering something to working with information by applying it, analyzing it, and creating new things. Deep, deep learning happens at these levels.

Where is my favorite place to find the curriculum?

For nearly 15 years now, I’ve used and loved materials from The Critical Thinking Co . They have so many resources targeted specifically toward logical thinking and critical thinking for all ages.

You can find curriculum for children as young as preschool all the way through high school! I particularly love their general logic and critical thinking materials, but you can even target certain subjects like math, language arts, science, social studies, and test prep skills.

We tend to include logic and critical thinking materials in our morning time rotation at least a couple of times a week. We’ve also been known to set regular math lessons aside for the day and just have fun with various types of puzzles and mysteries. I’ve even taught co-op classes using these resources and we often begin each of our STEM classes with at least one puzzle!

A Few of My Favorites

These are in no particular order or age/stage. Many of them are a part of a series and have multiple levels available. Once you click on a picture, you can search for other levels.

Let me know about your favorite logic and critical thinking curriculum in the comments!

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Top 10 Logic Games For Your Homeschool

This year, we have focused a lot on teaching critical thinking skills and logic in our homeschool. Logic games are a fun and easy way to approach learning these skills together. There are so many fun logic games out there!

Adding logic lessons to your homeschool study encourages kids to think critically, shows them how to puzzle through challenging topics and information, and teaches them how to think about new information they receive. I’m a big fan of making these lessons fun and engaging, so games are my first choice for teaching logic.

If you’re interested in adding logic lessons to your homeschool, you’ll definitely want to check out my top 10 list of our absolute favorite logic games for homeschoolers. Keep reading to get the scoop on our favorite logic games for your homeschool and more educational games for other subjects too.

The Value Of Adding Logic To Your Homeschool Study

While your homeschooler might not be ready for formal logic in elementary school, that doesn’t mean there isn’t value in adding informal logic lessons and concepts to your homeschool. Beginning logic lessons early gives kids a strong foundation to build on later.

Making logic lessons fun with logic games encourages kids to really dive in and build important critical thinking skills. After all, critical thinking skills don’t just come naturally. Once they’ve established these important thinking skills, your homeschoolers will use them throughout their lifetime in a variety of settings. 

Discover how we Teach Critical Thinking Skills in our homeschool to get tips on how we foster critical thinking at home beyond playing our favorite logic games. Emily has come to love our logic lessons! Some of her favorite logic and critical thinking exercises involve reading Twisted Fairytales (focused on the villain’s perspective) and playing logic games.

We have come to love so many great logic games! I’m excited to share our top 10 logic games for homeschoolers with you. 

Balance Beans

Balance Beans is a really cute math game from ThinkFun that’s filled with logic learning opportunities too. In this game, your homeschoolers will work to balance the bean characters on a seesaw. 

Cat Crimes or Dog Crimes

This funny brain teaser is a single-player logic game that’s perfect for adding to your bag when you’ll be carschooling. The artwork is hilarious! Your homeschoolers will enjoy solving 40 different Cat Crimes and building critical thinking skills along the way. If you’re more of a dog family, don’t miss Dog Crimes, the same game with a fun twist for dog lovers.

This logic game teaches critical thinking skills to kids as young as age five with a peg-solitaire style game using adorable frog characters in place of pegs. The multi-level challenges in Hoppers ensures that homeschoolers of all ages will be able to find a puzzle that’s challenging and fun.

IQ games are definitely one of my favorite logic games for strewing. They’re single-player and lots of fun. When we want a two-player version, we challenge eachother to complete the puzzles. IQ Games come in many different versions so you’ll always be able to find something fun and new. Check out IQ Puzzler, IQ XO, IQ Love, and IQ Digits to get started with your IQ game collection.

This puzzle game from Educational Insights offers 200 challenges for kids from ages seven to adults. It’s a great way to challenge the whole family to think critically this year! Kanoodle also has different versions you can add to your game closet once you’ve mastered the original. Check out Kanoodle Extreme and Kanoodle Genius for more gameplay options.

Laser Maze is another exciting ThinkFun logic game with lasers your kids must direct to the proper places around the board. I like these games because we can arrange them in different ways, creating our own paths and testing theories. Plus, the different difficulty levels make it fun for homeschoolers of all ages.

Gravity Maze

Are your homeschoolers also mesmerized by watching dominos or marble mazes? If so, you’ll definitely want to add Gravity Maze to your logic game list for this year. In this game, homeschoolers will create their very own marble maze with increasing difficulty by following the challenge cards in this ThinkFun logic game. 

Roller Coaster Challenge

The last ThinkFun maze game on my top 10 list is quite possibly the most fun! Roller Coaster Challenge lets your homeschoolers have fun creating their own roller coaster tracks with drops, turns, and more!

Rush Hour is a traffic jam logic game from ThinkFun that asks your kids to figure out how they’ll escape the traffic with increasingly challenging puzzles. It’s a fun way to build critical thinking skills in your homeschool this year. Plus, the junior version works really well with early elementary homeschoolers.

Genius Star

This logic game encourages logic skills, spatial reasoning, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. Homeschoolers will fit together the triangular blocks to create stars more quickly than their opponents in this Genius Star logic game.

More Educational Games For Your Homeschool

We love gameschooling because games are an engaging way to teach important skills through real-life applications. Through gameschooling, we have the opportunity to learn together as we play and spend quality time with one another. For these reasons, games have become an integral part of our homeschool. 

If you’re looking for more educational games to play in your homeschool, you won’t want to miss my game lists for every subject. I’ll show you how we teach math, language arts, and even music with games instead of a traditional curriculum. 

• The Best Math Games for Your Homeschool
• The Best Language Arts Games for Your Homeschool
• How To Teach Homeschool History Without a Curriculum
• The Best Art & Music Games for Your Homeschool
• The Best Science Games for Your Homeschool

Do you have a favorite logic game I didn’t mention? Share your favorite logic games to play together in the comments section. I’d love to read about your favorites and try them out with Emily too!

Related Blog Posts:

• Teaching Critical Thinking Skills In Your Homeschool: Logic Made Easy
• Our 2023 Homeschool New Year’s Resolutions
• A Simple Homeschool Challenge: A Book + A Game Each Day Of The Month

One Comment

Ah, I remember my family and I playing Rush Hour years ago! Thank you so much for this list of logic games; I have a niece and nephew who might like to play some of these.

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Escape Rooms: a Way to Teach Critical Thinking to Homeschoolers

Escape rooms, the whole world seems to be going crazy for them. Have you tried one yet? If so, you probably understand why. They make you happy!

Say what? How would being locked in a room with a bunch of people make someone happy?

You see giving your brain a workout with all the problem solving that goes into escape rooms actually releases dopamine which is the happy hormone.

The benefit of a better mood is only temporary, but even bigger benefits come from the increased critical thinking ability gained from escape rooms.

What is Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a way of problem solving that emphasizes the need to be well-informed and open-minded prior to making a decision. Someone who is thinking critically will not be led by emotion, but through reasoning and evidence.

Woah, reading the above definition of critical thinking makes it sound like a pretty big thing to expect kids to do. I mean, mine are still known to have a meltdown because they were given the wrong cup. They can do it though. Kids can learn to think critically. After all when your child started reading you didn’t hand them a classic novel, and when they started math, they didn’t start with calculus. Like everything else, there is a learning curve involved when practicing critical thinking.  So you can’t expect kids to start thinking critically right away.  But the sooner they start learning, the sooner they can grow their problem solving skills. 

Why Kids Should Learn to Think Critically

Problem solving skills aren’t the only benefit kids gain from critical thinking.

Critical thinking increases a kid’s ability to think logically, communicate clearly, and become more self-directed in learning.

Plus, you have the benefits of the actual problem solving including increased creativity, better memory, and improved mood, remember dopamine.

Aside from these benefits, critical thinking is a must have in nearly all professions. Basically critical  thinking results in:

• Logical Thinking
• Better communication
• More independence
• Increased creativity
• Improved memory
• Boosted mood

So how do you get kids thinking critically?

Well there are a lot of curricula available that teaches kids how to recognize patterns, rearrange shapes, and work through analogies, and these are great, but if you want kids excited about critical thinking try escape rooms!

What is an Escape Room

If you haven’t participated in some form of escape room, you might be wondering what I’m even talking about. An escape room is a game in which a team of players must solve a series of puzzles to complete a given objective (generally to escape the room) within a specific time limit. Unless you are fan of puzzles this may not sound like a fun time, but surprisingly it is, thanks to dopamine. 

Since escape rooms are in essence a game, kids are quick to participate in them . I recently hosted a local homeschool cooperative class that was a new escape room each week in an effort to increase the critical thinking skills and group cooperation in the kids. Most of the kids had never done an escape room, but they were all eager to sign up!

How do Escape Rooms Increase Critical Thinking

If you look at the skills needed to be successful in an escape room, they look very similar to the list of skills used by critical thinkers.

What skills are needed to solve an escape room:

• Increase problem solving
• Attention to detail
• Accurate communication
• Time Management

There are many ways escape rooms bolster critical thinking skills in kids. I saw it first hand in our homeschool co-op and in my own kids.

Escape Rooms Increase Problem Solving Ability

Remember, we said escape rooms are all about solving puzzles to reach an end goal. You cannot solve puzzles without thinking critically. In fact, when you go into an escape room and don’t use your critical thinking skills you likely won’t get out. We saw this when we first started escape rooms with  local homeschool kids. They walked in and freaked out instead of looking for the puzzles, or they decided the puzzle was too hard and gave up. Either way the puzzles were ignored and the kids did not escape.

Escape Rooms Increase Attention to Detail

Not only do you have to solve puzzles to escape, some of these puzzles require acute attention to detail or remembering something found earlier in the room . One puzzle we used was an auditory puzzle where the kids had to be quiet to hear it, talk about attention to detail. Several puzzles used information from previous puzzles in the room, so the kids were expected to remember that the information is available and connect it to the later puzzle.

Escape Rooms Require Teamwork

Escape rooms also require you to communicate and work as a team. It is highly unlikely that any one person can solve every puzzle in a given room, but utilizing the skills of everyone makes it much more do-able. Remember the auditory clue mentioned above, this was a great example of how the kids need to practice working better as a team. In the first co-op class only one student noticed it, but she chose to ignore it rather than mention it to the group. The kids had to use a hint needed card to locate this clue. In the second class a couple kids noticed it and immediately told everyone to be quiet. As a result they found and solved the clue with no hints.

Escape Rooms Require Time Management Skills

Escape rooms also require time management skills. If you spend all your time on wild goose chases, you won’t escape. Multiple times kids misinterpreted a clue and would not let go of their idea even after seeing it wouldn’t solve the problems. They wouldn’t listen to other kids that had other ideas. This wasted a lot of time. Likewise if we had locks in the room, many would just try to pick the lock  wasting more time.

By the end of the 12-week homeschool co-op block, we had seen a huge improvement in the way the kids worked through the rooms. Gone were the bewildered looks at not being able to find the puzzles or not being able to solve them. The kids now came in and tried. They tried to find the clues, they tried to solve the puzzles, and they escaped!

Towards the end they were even talking about how the last escape rooms had gotten easier. In reality the last few rooms we did were significantly harder than the first few; the students had just grown their critical thinking skills.

Tips for Using Escape Rooms with Kids

Find a group for your escape room.

Finding a group of kids who want to try escape rooms shouldn’t be super hard. Grab your local homeschool co-op kids, church kids, or just a bunch of your kids friends. You don’t need many, we found 5-7 worked well, many more and the communication became an issue. Also be sure they are all similar in age! We had a wide age range at 8 to 13-year-olds, and found the 8-year-olds didn’t work as well with the group. A more narrow range of maybe 3 years would be ideal.

Find an Escape Room

This post may contain  affiliate links  which means I may receive a small amount,  at no cost to you , if you make a purchase through a link.

Now find some escape rooms (or make them if you are adventurous). This isn’t as hard as you might think. There are several escape room board games (like  this one or these ) available commercially, but these are geared toward older kids (think high school and up) due to the difficulty. If you are a typical homeschooling mom, like me, who thinks everything should be educational, you can find themed printable escape rooms online for a small fee. The good thing about these are they are sorted by age and you only need to print them and set them up; no additional props needed. If you want things planned out, but you are prepared to provide a few props of your own, you can find some escape rooms with printable instructions here.

Always State Expectations Before Starting

No matter what type of escape room you choose, you must always tell the kids what their limits are. If you are in a borrowed room and don’t want them riffling through things tell them nothing is hidden in the cabinets. Don’t want them taking things off walls, tell them. Don’t want them writing on printables, tell them (and provide scratch paper). Also be sure to tell them how long they have to solve it!

As a side note, always provide scratch paper and pencils!

Provide Guidance

Now, you can’t just walk off and expect the kids to solve the escape room. You (or another adult) needs to stay to help guide them. Let the kids find the puzzles, let them try to solve them, but if you see they are really stuck on something, step in and ask them questions about the problem to help lead them to the solution. Notice I didn’t say tell them the solution or even directly how to solve the problem. Just lead them through the problem. They will get their dopamine increase and want to solve more.

Also, if you notice someone not helping, suggest places they can help. If someone is being ignored point it out to the group, so they can learn to listen to others. Essentially, you want to point out areas they need to improve to make them better critical thinkers.

Celebrate Wins

And when they use those problem solving skills, tell them that they did well reasoning through the problem or that they worked hard and worked it out. Praise them briefly for their use of critical thinking skills and move on because the clock is still ticking. We found it effective to call out loudly that another puzzles had been solved. This cause a quick cheer followed by an increase in effort as the dopamine was now shared with the group.

Engage Students Critical Thinking Skills with Escape Rooms

All the skills needed to successfully solve an escape room are also all the skills needed to think critically. These critical thinking skills can be taught, and kids love learning them with the excitement (and dopamine) of solving an escape room.

Ashley Moore

About the author

Ashley Moore left the world of veterinary medicine to homeschool her 4 spirited children. A life long science lover, she is still thrilled with baking soda and vinegar volcanoes, but she also loves learning in general. After all you can never know everything! She shares fun, hands-on learning activities and homeschool insghts on her blog Life with Moore Babies.

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Critical Thinking Reviews

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According to publisher’s materials, "Critical thinking is the identification and evaluation of evidence to guide decision making. A critical thinker uses broad in-depth analysis of evidence to make decisions and communicate his/her beliefs clearly and accurately." The resources are designed to help students develop analytical thinking processes. The various curricula including Grade Level Solutions in Math, Language Arts, Science and Reasoning sell for less than $40 each.

Website: Critical Thinking

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I would recommend for Preschool and first grade, especially.

We used Organizational Thinking in Elementary school. In junior high grades, we bought and used Riddle Spiders.

We bought a Science critical thinking book, but did not use. It was too involved a study for us with other curriculum we were using.

I have used several of their CDROM's as extra fun practice for my kids. I have not used them as a complete curriculum, only because we love what we are doing now 🙂 It has been a great add on to our current studies and my kids often ask for more.

It is hard for my children to stop working in these books and move on to other subjects. One page isn't enough. They really enjoy these.

My son has worked through most of the Critical Thinking, Book 1 and is ready to start Book 2. He uses these books in conjunction with an online class. Looking them over, it would be difficult to use with one student. The class discussion he does is highly valuable and with one student and one teacher, would be lost.

He is learning a great deal about propoganda, reasoning techniques, and how to think through ideas logically. He really enjoys the challenge of identifying different theories in what he reads and hears both in the book, and in real life, mostly with TV commericals and info-mercials. By the time he completes the second book, he will have a very good handle on the subject which will carry him through high school and beyond.

One of my biggest goals is to teach my children to think. These books are great for that. You can get the best value if you put them in clear protective pockets to reuse over and over. We recently installed the Word Builder CD rom. It is great for vocabulary skills.

My preschooler loves it! My 3rd grader has been using the program since preschool and thinks it's great. He does the core books for school and other books for fun (they are on his Christmas list). This is my 7th graders first year homeschooling and she hates the program. She says she just doesn't get it and it is a struggle for her. I don't know if it because it is her first year with critical thinking or the program.

These are addicting. My children can't do just one page; they love to keep working in these books. The younger children look at them like fun activity books, while the older ones look at them like mysteries to solve.

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CTC: Building Thinking Skills

Seamlessly add your Building Thinking Skills curriculum from The Critical Thinking Company to your homeschool schedule with these lesson plans for use with your Homeschool Planet subscription. Building Thinking Skills d evelop critical thinking skills in all academic areas–reading, writing, math and science–with this reproducible book of higher thinking activities.

What You Get:

• The publisher-recommended course of study
• 1 school year lesson plan, covering all the assignments for your Building Thinking Skills curriculum.
• Checkboxes for your students to check off as they complete their assignments, providing them with a sense of accomplishment and a permanent record of their achievement.
• Building Thinking Skills Lesson Plan Bundle includes all 5 lesson plans!
• Automatic lesson plan updates as needed, with enhancements, link updates, etc. Note: You decide whether to apply the updates.

Please note: Curriculum is not included with your lesson plan and should be purchased separately. Select the "More Info" link located in each lesson plan option below for a description of the curriculum and an affiliate link to purchase the curriculum. These lesson plans are subject to copyright laws and cannot be used beyond those in your household. By “household” we mean a person or persons sharing the same single family housing unit such as a home, apartment, mobile home or condominium. You may reach us with any questions at [email protected] .

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Featured Critical Thinking & Logic Resource

The Bluedorn family, longtime promoters of Christian classical education, encountered content problems in most critical thinking and logic resources. So the Bluedorn brothers, Nathaniel and Hans, put their heads together and came up with this excellent introduction to practical logic from their conservative Christian homeschoolers’ perspective.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services that I believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 "Guidelines Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Ep. 16 - Preparing Your Kids for a Rapidly Changing Job Market (Part 1 of 2) // Lisa Nehring The Christy-Faith Show

Today’s conversation with Lisa Nehring explores the concept of the fourth industrial revolution and its implications for homeschooling. Christy-Faith and Lisa discuss the rapid changes in technology and the job market, emphasizing the need for adaptable skills and critical thinking. The ladies higlight importance of literacy, self-learning, soft skills, and emotional intelligence. They also touch on the five emerging economies and offer practical advice for homeschooling parents to adapt their teaching methods and curriculum.      Takeaways:  The fourth industrial revolution is characterized by the merging of technology and humanity, blurring the lines between physical, biological, and digital spheres.Children are likely to have multiple jobs in different industries throughout their lives, and many of the jobs that will exist in the future do not exist yet.To prepare children for the future, focus on developing critical thinking skills, promoting literacy, fostering self-learning, and cultivating soft skills such as communication, collaboration, and creativity.Emotional intelligence is also crucial, as it helps children navigate the global gig economy and work effectively with people from diverse backgrounds.Homeschooling parents can adapt their teaching methods by incorporating literature-based curriculum, engaging in Socratic discussions, and creating space for open and challenging conversations with their children About today’s guest: Lisa Nehring  is the owner of  True North Homeschool Academy, a 2nd -12th grade full service on-line Academy, as well as  “Its Not that Hard to Homeschool” and Blue Collar Homeschool, providing books, tools and online community for families that choose to homeschool. ******************************************* LINKS & RESOURCES Build A Homeschool That Does Right By Your Kids: https://christy-faith.com/pages/thrive Use my Homeschool Success Framework: https://christy-faith.com/pages/thrive#r-1681759143216 It’s time to defeat homeschool doubt and second-guessing forever. Find homeschool-friendly service providers (like doctors, educators, and more): https://www.christy-faiths-list.com Take my FREE 5-Minute Homeschool Style Finder: https://christy-faith.com/pages/christy-faiths-5-minute-homeschool-style-finder Pick up your copy of Christy-Faith’s latest book! Homeschool Rising: Shattering Myths, Finding Courage, and Opting Out of the School System https://christy-faith.com/pages/homeschool-rising-book Links & Free: https://christy-faith.com/pages/links Work with Christy-Faith: https://christy-faith.com/pages/contact ******************************************* SHOW SPONSORS CTC Math - Get 50% off my favorite online math curriculum https://ctcmath.com/how-it-works/home-school Thrive Homeschool Community - Create a homeschool that’s better than any public or private school option https://christy-faith.com/pages/thrive ******************************************* CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction to the Fourth Industrial Revolution 07:00 Preparing Children for a Rapidly Changing Job Market 10:21 The Importance of Literacy and Critical Thinking 11:20 Developing Self-Learning Skills and Soft Skills 24:08 Adapting Teaching Methods and Curriculum ******************************************* FIND CHRISTY-FAITH HERE TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@christy_faith Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christy_faith_homeschool YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@christy-faith Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ChristyFaithHomeschooling Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristyFaithHomeschool Threads: https://www.threads.net/@christy_faith_homeschool X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/Christy_Faith_1  (00:00) - Introduction to the Fourth Industrial Revolution
 (07:00) - Preparing Children for a Rapidly Changing Job Market
 (10:21) - The Importance of Literacy and Critical Thinking
 (11:20) - Developing Self-Learning Skills and Soft Skills
 (24:08) - Adap

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Is critical thinking a superpower in the ai era.

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Critical thinking skills are crucial for AI.

AI, particularly generative AI, is having an immediate and dramatic impact on our lives, both personally and professionally. AI enables everyone to become better writers, content creators, coders, and artists. Interestingly, to derive effective value from AI systems, we must also develop our "soft skills”, of which critical thinking becomes one of the most important.

Just a few years ago, to get real benefit from AI, you needed to build and train AI systems which required “hard” skills such as math, programming, or data engineering skills. Now, because of generative AI, you no longer need to be an expert in statistics & probability, calculus, or linear algebra to get value from using Generative AI. You also don’t need knowledge of different algorithms & modeling skills. Instead, you need to use soft skills such as communication, curiosity, problem solving, adaptability, and critical thinking.

Why Critical Thinking is Crucial for AI

There’s no doubt that in today's fast-paced business environment, workers will need to use AI tools to stay ahead in the market. While AI systems will let anyone get a basic grasp of hard skills, the soft skills are proving to be the most important to get value from AI systems. In particular, the soft skill of critical thinking is proving indispensable. Put simply, critical thinking is the ability to get a solid, reliable, and as truthful as possible understanding of information, and then use that understanding to make sound decisions based on that knowledge. This means scrutinizing information, questioning assumptions, and ensuring that conclusions are supported by solid evidence.

When it comes to using generative AI systems, being able to observe, analyze, discern, and ask the right questions is what not only allows you to get the required results from the AI, but also to determine if the outputs are credible, lack bias, and truthful. Critical thinking approaches provide the necessary mental tools to iteratively refine prompts and hone in to get more effective results. Trying different approaches using thinking skills leads to clearer, more accurate results. The ability to analyze complex requirements helps in designing effective prompts and assessing the quality of AI-generated responses.

How To Develop Critical Thinking Skills

Critical thinking skills will only become more important in our AI-driven organizations. This means that people of all ages will need to make sure to develop and use critical thinking skills to be able to stay ahead of the pack. A key approach to develop and refine critical thinking skills is to always approach interactions with AI systems with a healthy dose of skepticism, and question assumptions, especially your own. Ask yourself whether the information going into and out of AI systems make sense and what assumptions are being made. Look for evidence to support or refute these assumptions.

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Additionally, you’ll want to seek evidence. It goes without saying that especially in an AI-generated world, you can’t take what you see, hear, or read at face value. Large language models are known to hallucinate, or confidently provide you with the wrong information. Verify the sources of your information and ensure that your conclusions are backed by solid proof, research, or findings, and dive deeper to find supporting evidence.

Critical thinking also requires you to be aware of potential informational and data biases. Those biases could be represented in your thinking, data, analyses, outputs of LLM systems, or the way in which you utilize or scrutinize AI outputs. Work to observe and identify patterns and trends in data. This involves not just looking at the data, but understanding the context and relationships between different variables.

Key Benefits Of Critical Thinking in an AI-Centric World

As you continue to work on your critical thinking skills, you’ll see many key benefits, especially as more people make use of AI to augment or assist their work. Professionals are often required to make decisions based on various data points and pieces of information. Critical thinking enables you to sift through the mountains of AI-generated information, identify what is relevant, and then make decisions based on accurate interpretations. This is especially the case with generative AI. Without critical thinking, there is a risk of making decisions based on incomplete or incorrect information, which can lead to erroneous, suboptimal, or misleading results.

A key to critical thinking is problem solving skills. Critical thinking helps professionals approach problems systematically, considering all possible solutions and their implications before making decisions. This thorough approach reduces the likelihood of overlooking important factors and increases the chances of finding effective solutions. It also helps you become a better prompt engineer as you’ll not stop until you get a satisfactory response. You are able to evaluate complex situations to make informed decisions. This analytical ability helps in designing effective prompts and assessing the quality of AI-generated responses.

Setting Yourself Apart With Critical Thinking

Individuals who excel in critical thinking will stand out when it comes to the use of AI. These individuals can navigate complex information landscapes, create better results and responses from LLMs, make better informed decisions, iterate more effectively to get desired outcomes, and be more effective when it comes to communicating and sharing results.

The ability to critically evaluate and interpret information is a strategic advantage for those who are working with AI systems. As AI becomes an increasing part of our every day business processes, tools, and interactions, those with strong critical thinking abilities will be better equipped to harness AI’s full potential, driving innovation, better insights, and answers.

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Critical Thinking: Creating Job-Proof Skills for the Future of Work

Daniela dumitru.

1 Teacher Training Department, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010374 Bucharest, Romania

2 Doctoral School of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Bucharest, 050663 Bucharest, Romania

Diane F. Halpern

3 Department of Psychology, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA 91711, USA; moc.liamg@nreplahfenaid

In this study, we explore the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the job market and argue for the growing importance of critical thinking skills in the face of job automation and changing work dynamics. Advancements in AI have the potential to disrupt various professions, including, for example, programming, legal work, and radiology. However, solely relying on AI systems can lead to errors and misjudgments, emphasizing the need for human oversight. The concept of “job-proof skills” is introduced, highlighting the importance of critical thinking, problem-solving, empathy, ethics, and other human attributes that machines cannot replicate with the same standards and agility. We maintain that critical thinking can be taught and learned through appropriate classroom instruction and transfer-focused approaches. The need for critical thinking skills is further reinforced by the influx of information and the spread of misinformation in the age of social media. Moreover, employers increasingly value critical thinking skills in their workforce, yet there exists a gap between the demand for these skills and the preparedness of college graduates. Critical thinking is not only essential for the future of work, but also for informed citizenship in an increasingly complex world. The potential impact of AI on job disruption, wages, and employment polarization is discussed, highlighting the correlation between jobs requiring critical thinking skills and their resistance to automation. We conclude by discussing collaborative efforts between universities and labor market organizations to adapt curricula and promote the development of critical thinking skills, drawing on examples from European initiatives. The need to prioritize critical thinking skills in education and address the evolving demands of the labor market is emphasized as a crucial step for navigating the future of work and opportunities for workers.

1. Introduction: Critical Thinking: Creating Job-Proof Skills for the Future of Work

The rapid evolution of online technologies has ushered in a paradigm shift in employment, redefining the nature of work and the skills required to succeed in the digital age. This transformative landscape, characterized by the ubiquitous presence of the Internet, social media platforms, and advanced artificial intelligence systems, has created a plethora of new opportunities and challenges in the labor market. As we navigate this digital frontier, it is becoming increasingly clear that traditional employment paradigms are undergoing a profound transformation. The convergence of online technologies with the demands of a networked world has not only created new job opportunities, but it has also disrupted established industries, rendering some job roles obsolete while creating demand for previously unforeseen skills. In this era of unprecedented connectivity and innovation, examining the intricate interplay between online technologies and jobs is paramount as it holds the key to understanding the dynamics of our rapidly evolving workforce.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is disrupting many jobs and promises “to change the way the world works” ( adminGPT 2023, para. 13 ). The number and range of AI programs are increasing at a rapid pace, and they are likely to continually improve to meet user demands. Consider, for example, ChatGPT, which can respond to questions and requests in a way that seems to come from a human rather than a computer program. GPT stands for “generative pretrained transformer”. It is generative in that it can provide responses that it never “learned”; it is pretrained with a large language model ( Bushwick et al. 2023 ). Newer versions can describe visual images, although thus far, they cannot create visual images. Its uses are seemingly endless. It is easy to imagine how such programs can change the lives of blind individuals. In fact, it can and will change the lives of all of us.

In this paper, we argue that these advances in online technologies will make critical thinking (CT) more important than ever before. Many who are preparing to enter the job market, and many who are already employed, will need to adapt to new forms of job automation and different ways of working.

Consider, for example, that an early achievement of ChatGPT was its generation of Python code (a computer language) to compute various tasks, such as data analysis. Apparently, getting ChatGPT to generate code is so easy that several YouTube videos have popped up claiming that they can teach novice users to use ChatGPT to generate code in 90 s. ( Data Professor 2023 ). The benefits are obvious, but so are the potential job losses for people who work in Python. Python coders will need to upgrade their skills, perhaps first becoming experts in the use of ChatGPT and similar programs, but this also has a positive side--they can spend more time working on larger questions such as which analyses are needed, and, of course, carefully reviewing the work produced by AI to ensure that it is accurate and understandable. Early versions of ChatGPT responses often contained errors. A New York lawyer learned the hard way: Steven A. Schwartz, a lawyer for 30 years, used ChatGPT to create a legal document ( Weiser and Schweber 2023 ). It was filled with fake citations and bogus judicial opinions. Sadly, Mr. Schwartz never checked the accuracy of the document he filed in court. The judge was not amused. This highly public and embarrassing event should be a lesson for all of us. Current AI programs cannot be trusted to take over our work, though they may be able to aid or supplement it. However, other AI programs can “read” radiographs more accurately than human radiologists, which provides a benefit to both radiologists and patients. There is an immediate positive effect for this advancement: Radiologists will have more time to directly work with patients, and yes, they must also check the accuracy of the outputs from their programs when presenting diagnoses.

For the rest of us, whether we are students or early or late in our careers, we need to focus on the development of “job-proof skills” in the face of AI advances. A report from the United Nations defines job-proof skills as “conceptual and strategic thinking, problem-solving, empathy, optimism, ethics, emotional intelligence, and judgments are the future-proof skills and attributes that machines will not be able to replicate with the same standards and agility as qualified human beings” ( Elkeiy 2022, para. 5 ). In other words, critical thinking skills will always be needed.

2. What Is Critical Thinking?

Although some scholars in the field of critical thinking have emphasized differences among various definitions, we believe that the commonalities are evident (c.f., Dwyer 2017 ; Nisbett 2015 ; Lipman 1991 ; Fisher 2001 ). There are some differences in the use of terms and several skills might be more important, but all of the definitions (more or less) conform to our preferred definition: “Critical thinking is the use of those cognitive skills and abilities that increase the probability of a desirable outcome. It is purposeful, reasoned, and goal directed. It is the kind of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions. Critical thinkers use these skills appropriately, without prompting, and usually with conscious intent, in a variety of settings. That is, they are predisposed to think critically. When we think critically, we are evaluating the outcomes of our thought processes--how good a decision is or how well a problem is solved. Critical thinking also involves evaluating the thinking process--the reasoning that went into the conclusion we’ve arrived at, or the kinds of factors considered in making a decision” ( Halpern and Dunn 2023, pp. 6–7 ). The reason we need a common definition of critical thinking is that, without it, instructors can and have passed almost anything off as instruction in critical thinking. However, common ground is to be found concerning CT definitions. In a European project, which we shall refer to in Section 4.3 , the critical thinking definition is based on the works of Halpern and Dunn ( 2023 ), Facione ( 1990 ), Paul and Elder ( 2008 ), and Kuhn ( 1999 ). During two debate sessions, 33 international participants from higher education and the labor market defined critical thinking as a deliberate cognitive process guided by conscious, dynamic, self-directed, self-monitored, and self-correcting thought ( Rebelo et al. 2023 ). It relies on both disciplinary and procedural knowledge, along with metacognitive aspects (including metacognitive, meta-strategic, and epistemological dimensions). Critical thinking can be cultivated and enhanced through the development of competencies, and it is facilitated by various attitudes, such as systematic thinking, open-mindedness, empathy, flexibility, and cognitive maturity. Additionally, it encompasses intellectual skills such as reflection, self-regulation, analysis, inference, explanation, synthesis, and systematic thought. Critical thinking not only stimulates problem-solving capabilities but also facilitates effective communication, fosters independent and holistic thinking, and bolsters decision-making and active citizenship ( Pnevmatikos et al. 2021 ).

2.1. Can Critical Thinking Be Learned?

We teach writing, oral communication, and mathematics with the (often implicit) belief that these skills will be learned and transferred to multiple settings both inside and outside of the classroom. There is a large and growing research literature showing that, with appropriate classroom instruction in critical thinking, including specific instruction designed for transfer, the skills will spontaneously transfer and in uncued (i.e., there are no reminders to use the critical thinking skill that was learned in class) situations ( Dumitru 2012 ; Heijltjes et al. 2014 ; Tiruneh 2019 ). Several such studies were presented by Dwyer ( 2017 ) and Halpern and Dunn ( 2023 ). For the sake of brevity, we review just one recent study. The study was designed to counteract the effects of conspiracy theories. When people believe conspiracy theories, they often act in harmful ways–such as refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, which resulted in the death of large numbers of people around the world, or attacking the United State Capitol Building on 6 January 2021 in the belief that there was a conspiracy afoot designed to steal the United States 2020 presidential election from Donald Trump. In a review of the research literature on the efficacy of interventions, the researchers found “there was one intervention which was characteristically different to the rest” ( O’Mahony et al. 2023, para. 23 ). It was a semester-long university course in critical thinking that was designed to teach students the difference between good scientific practices and pseudoscience. These courses require effort and commitment, but they are effective. The same conclusion applies to all interventions designed to enhance critical thinking. There are no fast and easy “once and done” strategies that work. This is why we recommend continuous and pervasive coursework to make sure that the learning of CT skills “sticks.”

2.2. The Need for Critical Thinking Skills

Online technologies-related (including AI) job loss and redesign are not the only reasons why we need to concentrate on teaching and learning the skills of critical thinking. COVID-19 left 140 million people out of work, and many of their jobs will never return ( Roslansky 2021 ). We are drowning in a tsunami of information, confronted with advertisements online, in news reports, social media, podcasts, and more. The need to be able to distinguish good information from bad is critical. In addition, employers want to hire people with critical thinking skills. In a recent report by Hart Research Associated ( 2018 ), they found that in an employer survey of 501 business executives, 78% said that critical thinking/analytic reasoning is the most important skill they want in their employees, but they also added that only 34% of college graduates arrive well prepared in critical thinking. This gap between what employers want and their perception of the preparedness of the workforce was larger for critical thinking than for any other area. In fact, every report on the future of work made this same point. Consider this quote from The World Economic Forum ( 2020 ) on the future of jobs: “Skills gaps continue to be high as in-demand skills across jobs change in the next five years. The top skills and skill groups which employers see as rising in prominence in the lead up to 2025 include groups such as critical thinking and analysis as well as problem-solving.” (p. 5). In a report from the Office of the European Union: Key Competences for Lifelong Learning, the commissioner wrote “Critical thinking, media literacy, and communication skills are some of the requirements to navigate our increasingly complex world” ( Navracsics 2019, p. 3 ). Of course, critical thinking is not just needed in the world of work. A true democracy requires an educated citizenry with citizens who can think critically about world social issues, such as the use/threat of AI, war, poverty, climate change, and so much more. Irrational voters are a threat to all of us—and to themselves.

The need to think critically is not new, but it has taken on a new urgency as social media and other forms of communication have made the deliberate spread of misinformation move at the speed of light. There is nothing new about the use of lies, half-truths, and innuendos to get people to believe something that is not true. Anyone can post anything on popular media sites, and this “fake news” is often copied and shared thousands of times. Sometimes the information is spread with a deliberate attempt to mislead; other times, it is copied and spread by people who believe it is true. These messages are often used to discredit political adversaries, create social unrest, and incite fear. It can be a difficult task to determine what to believe and what to discard. Vosoughi et al. ( 2018 ) analyzed data from 126,000 tweets that were spread by approximately 3 million people. How did the researchers discriminate true data from false data? The same way we all should. They used several different fact-checking sites and found 95% to 98% agreement regarding the truth or falsehood of information. They found that false data spread more quickly and more widely than true data because the false data tended to be novel and sensational, rendering it salient and seductive.

In today’s landscape, the imperative to foster critical thinking skills is becoming increasingly apparent as we grapple with the rapid rise of social media and artificial intelligence technologies and their profound impact on the future of work. The confluence of these transformative forces has ushered in a new era characterized by the potential for significant job disruption. As online technologies advance and automation becomes more widespread, certain traditional job roles may become obsolete, requiring the development of innovative skills and adaptability in the workforce. In this context, critical thinking emerges as a central element in preparing individuals to navigate the evolving job market. It equips individuals with the ability to analyze complex information, discern credible sources from the proliferation of social media information, and make informed decisions in an era of blurring boundaries between human and machine contributions to the workforce. Cultivating critical thinking skills will be essential to ensuring that individuals can take advantage of the opportunities presented by new technologies while mitigating the challenges of job disruption in this AI-driven future.

3. Critical Thinking Skills and Job Disruption and Replacement

Eloundou et al. in 2023 estimated that about 15% of all U.S. workers’ jobs could be accomplished much faster and at the same level of quality with currently available AI. There are large differences in the extent to which various occupations and industries will be affected by advancements in AI. For example, tasks that require a high degree of human interaction, highly specialized domain knowledge, or creating innovative technologies will be minimally affected; whereas, other occupations such as providing captions for images or answering questions about a text or document are more likely to be affected. Routine-based jobs in general are more likely to be dislodged by advanced technologies ( Acemoglu 2002 ). Using the basic definitions of skills that are standard in O*Net, Eloundou et al. ( 2023 ) found a clear negative correlation between jobs requiring knowledge of science and critical thinking skills and the likelihood that AI will “take over” the job. These findings reinforce our main point—the best way to gain job-proof skills is with critical thinking.

The effect of online technologies on wages is complicated because of the large number of factors that come together to determine earnings. Acemoglu and Autor ( 2011 ) advocated for a model that simultaneously considers the level of the tasks required for any job (low, medium, and high), where a high level of skill is defined as one that allows employees to perform a variety of tasks, the demand for the tasks, and technological changes that can complement a task or replace it. They assert that employment has become increasingly polarized with the growth in both high education, high wage occupations and low education, and low wage occupations in the United States and the European Union. To understand and predict which occupations will be most disrupted by AI (and other developing technologies), an investigator will need to simultaneously consider all of these variables. Technological advancements can generate shifts in demand, favoring either high- or low-skilled workers. According to Acemoglu and Autor ( 2011 ), we can expect some of the largest disruptive effects at the middle level of skills, where some of the tasks performed at this level can be more easily replaced by new technologies, with widespread employment growth in high- and low-skilled occupations.

4. Business-University Collaborations

The pursuit of promoting high standards of critical thinking in university students across various academic disciplines is a challenging endeavor that should be leveraged through collaboration with stakeholders. In such collaborations, stakeholders can contribute to refining the skills required by learners and bring their own perspectives to academic instruction. This close partnership between universities and stakeholders helps minimize gaps and mismatches in the transition to the labor market, facilitates research collaboration, and increases student motivation.

Collaborations between businesses and universities have gained increasing importance in today’s rapidly evolving educational and economic landscape. These partnerships are instrumental in bridging the gap between academic learning and the real-world skills demanded by the job market. One key aspect of business-university collaboration (BUC) is the alignment of curricula with the dynamic needs of industries. This entails the joint effort of higher education institutions (HEIs) and industry experts to design, develop, and deliver educational programs that equip students with practical, job-ready skills. The curriculum design phase involves tailoring study programs, courses, and modules to address skills gaps and align with the specific requirements of employers.

Moreover, BUC extends beyond the classroom. Collaborations often involve business engagement in educational activities, including guest lectures, internships, co-op programs, and research projects. These interactions provide students with invaluable exposure to real-world scenarios, allowing them to apply theoretical knowledge in practical settings.

In essence, BUC is a multifaceted partnership that benefits both students and businesses. It ensures that educational programs remain relevant, fostering a seamless transition from academia to the workforce. This collaborative approach not only enhances students’ employability but also contributes to the overall growth and innovation of industries.

Operationalizing the collaboration implicates a particular focus on curriculum design, development, and delivery. These involve the collaboration between higher education institutions and labor market partners to create or enhance undergraduate or postgraduate study programs, courses, or modules. This collaborative effort aims to address skills gaps, align curricula with employers’ needs, integrate training initiatives, and improve graduates’ employability. Additionally, curriculum delivery includes various forms of business involvement, such as guest lectures, placements, supervision, mentoring, and work-based learning activities.

While the existing literature often discusses the barriers and motivations for university-business collaboration ( Healy et al. 2014 ; Orazbayeva et al. 2020 ), there is a need for more empirical insights into the roles and responsibilities of each party engaged in joint curriculum design, development, and delivery, as well as lessons learned from these collaborations ( Rebelo et al. 2023 ).

4.1. Why Do We Need Higher Education’s Help?

In the preceding sections of this paper, we delved into the disruptive forces of artificial intelligence (AI) on the job market and the critical need for individuals to adapt to these changes by developing “job-proof skills”. The rise of online technologies such as ChatGPT presents both opportunities and challenges, particularly in fields where middle-level skills are required. To effectively tackle these challenges, we must turn our attention to the pivotal role of education and the cultivation of essential skills such as critical thinking.

We highlighted how AI is rapidly transforming various industries and the need for individuals to adapt to these changes. Moreover, we explored the question of whether critical thinking can be learned, showcasing research evidence that supports the teachability of this skill. Now, we shall explore practical strategies for fostering critical thinking skills through collaborations between universities and businesses. The idea here is to create an educational framework that equips students with the capabilities needed to thrive in the evolving workforce.

Building upon the success of two European projects, “Critical thinking across higher education curricula—CRITHINKEDU” and “Critical thinking for successful jobs—THINK4JOBS”, we argue that incorporating practical experience and CT development through apprenticeships is a possible action for better higher education classes. This collaborative approach between HEI and LMO designed to address the differing perspectives and terminologies used by these two entities regarding critical thinking could be an important curriculum design for the better adaptation of job market technology disruptions.

Research conducted by Eloundou et al. ( 2023 ), which shows that critical thinking skills and science skills are less likely to be taken by AI, compels us to sustain the THINK4JOBS apprenticeship curricula as a possible teaching protocol for critical thinking enhancement to face challenges posed by AI at work.

The results from these projects demonstrate significant progress in students’ critical thinking skills and dispositions. These improvements, as highlighted below in Section 4.3 , underscore the effectiveness of embedding critical thinking in the curriculum. The guidelines formulated for implementing Critical Thinking Blended Apprenticeship Curricula provide a roadmap for educators to follow when effectively integrating critical thinking into their courses.

As we ponder the possibility of a world where critical thinking is widespread, we can envision a future where individuals are equipped to confront the ideological fanaticism that threatens global stability. Critical thinking, as both a cognitive skill and a disposition, has the potential to shape a workforce capable of adapting to the ever-changing landscape of work, making informed decisions, and contributing to a more rational and democratic world. The THINK4JOBS project emphasizes the practical steps taken to prepare students for the future job market and sets the stage for further exploration of the role of critical thinking in addressing global challenges, including AI presence in the job market.

4.2. CRITHINKEDU Proctocol for Critical Thinking Education across Curricula

Given that the best education for the future of work is the acquisition of critical thinking skills, how can we facilitate this sort of education? One way to obtain a job-proof education is to create classes with the help of labor market organizations. Two projects funded by the European Union were designed to bring to life the idea that better communication and collaboration between universities and employers result in a better adaptation of the curriculum, especially a curriculum involving critical thinking skill development.

Between 2016 and 2019, the project “Critical thinking across the European higher education curriculum—CRITHINKEDU” focused on how CT is taught in various academic domains. The CRITHINKEDU project, involving universities across Europe, exemplifies how academia and industry can join forces to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world job demands. This initiative aimed to enhance the curriculum by explicitly emphasizing critical thinking skill development. It revealed that employers across various fields value critical thinking, and they perceive it as essential for recent graduates entering the workforce.

The participants were eleven universities from nine European countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Lithuania, and Ireland; Dominguez 2018). Qualitative research was conducted with 32 focus groups comprised of professionals from various European countries and fields. The findings align with previous studies: “CT is a set of interconnected skills (interpretation, inference, analysis, explanation, evaluation, self-regulation”, see Payan-Carreira et al. ( 2023, p. 16 ), and dispositions (open-mindedness, refection, attentiveness, organization, perseverance, intrinsic goal motivation ( Payan-Carreira et al. 2023 ), essential for recent graduates in response to labor market demands. However, an important consideration is that the practical application of CT varies across professional fields. The participants in this study defined the ideal critical thinker as someone with a cultivated mindset, motivated to learn and improve, and equipped with cognitive and behavioral tools to anticipate, regulate, and monitor their thinking. CT is associated with problem-solving and decision-making and is intertwined with other skills such as proactivity, adaptability, creativity, emotional intelligence, communication, and teamwork. The report from this project also introduced “a European collection of the Critical Thinking skills and dispositions needed in different professional fields for the 21st century” ( Dominguez 2018 ), which categorizes CT skills and dispositions based on professional fields and offers a basis for defining learning objectives and adapting university curricula. This study provides valuable insights from 189 European employers into CT needs in the labor market for new graduates. The interviewed professionals had an obvious preference for CT skills in STEM fields and an obvious preference for dispositions in the Humanities. Social Sciences and bio-medical sciences professionals were equally interested in CT skills and dispositions, with a slight preference for dispositions ( Dominguez 2018, p. 28 ).

4.3. Next Steps: THINK4JOBS Blended Appreticeship Curricula

After the termination of the CRITHINKEDU project, partners from Romania, Greece, Lithuania, and Portugal, with the addition of a new partner from Germany, proposed a new research application: “Critical Thinking for Successful Jobs—THINK4JOBS” ( www.think4jobs.uowm.gr ). The idea was to utilize the results from the previous project and, together with labor market organizations, create new courses that are more adapted to the reality of the future of work. The core element of the classes was explicit teaching of critical thinking, using real-life cases and methods. In an apprenticeship model, critical thinking skills are embedded in a relevant context. The value of realistic contexts is that students can see the need for the skills being taught in a workplace scenario. Relevant contexts enhance student engagement and motivation to learn. Dumitru et al. ( 2021 ) focused on improving students’ critical thinking skills and dispositions through collaboration between Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Labor Market Organizations (LMOs). The aim was to bridge the gap between HEI curricula and the expectations of the labor market by incorporating apprenticeships that provide practical experience and CT development.

The process of mapping responses from those in the labor market organizations onto college curricula involved the use of research methods such as observation, focus groups, and documentary analysis, with stakeholders from HEIs and LMOs participating. The findings indicated that while there were no definitive “gaps” between HEIs and LMOs, there were contextual differences in the approach to CT. HEIs focus on long-term career preparation, while LMOs emphasize short-term learning strategies. The terminology and expression of CT also differed between the two contexts. Based on the findings, ten work-based scenarios were created, with one from each discipline involved in the project. Overall, the report ( Dumitru et al. 2021 ) highlighted the different goals and perspectives of HEIs and LMOs regarding CT, emphasizing the need for collaboration and a common understanding of which skills should be included in the college curriculum.

There is a different context in the approach to CT, since HEIs usually use different learning activities, focusing more on career preparation with long-term goals, while LMOs follow compact and short-term learning and teaching strategies. Furthermore, the findings suggest that CT is a new workplace requirement and that HEIs and LMOs do not choose the same terminology when referring to the concept, with HEIs usually choosing scientific terms. Another element that emerged is that CT is generally expressed in a declarative way in higher education institutions, while in LMOs the application to specific cases follows a more procedural approach. Put another way, LMOs are focused on making a profit, while HEI is focused on being socially responsible.

In the second phase of the project, partners ( Pnevmatikos et al. 2021 ) focused on the development of a collaborative training curriculum for Higher Education Instructors and LMO tutors. The purpose of the training was to enhance comprehension and knowledge of critical thinking for both sides of this collaboration, since previous research indicated a potential lack of conceptual and procedural understanding between these two entities. Additionally, the training aimed to facilitate the promotion, support, and evaluation of students’ CT skills within apprenticeship curricula, as well as the creation of blended curricula utilizing an open-source learning platform. The training course encompassed workshops that delved into various aspects of CT, including analyzing and reassembling ideas about CT, formulating a working definition of CT, instructional methodologies, blended learning techniques, usage of a learning platform, CT assessment, and the development of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between higher education institutions and LMOs. The participants’ knowledge about these topics was assessed through pre- and post-training online questionnaires. Although data analysis showed various predicted trends, only perceived self-confidence in the topics covered during the training obtained statistical significance ( Pnevmatikos et al. 2021 ).

In the final report from this project, Payan-Carreira et al. ( 2023 ) presented the results of the implementation of the critical thinking Blended Apprenticeships Curricula (CTBAC) and discussed the improvements in critical thinking skills and dispositions observed in students. The study involved cross-disciplinary analysis and assessed changes before and after the piloting activities. A total of 609 students participated, and their critical thinking skills and dispositions were evaluated.

The consortium chose the Critical Thinking Self-Assessment Scale (CTSAS) developed by Nair ( 2011 ) as an instrument to assess CT skills based on an earlier conceptualization ( Facione 1990 ). The questionnaire has been tested in various geographic and cultural contexts, demonstrating good reliability, internal consistency, and confirmatory factor analysis results. However, the original CTSAS was considered too long to complete, consisting of 115 items, so a shorter version was specifically developed for this project. The short form of the questionnaire (CTSAS-SF) was created through a two-step process. Items with loading weights below .500 were eliminated, resulting in 84 remaining items. Redundant and non-cognitive-focused items were marked for elimination, leaving 60 items. The short form maintained the original scale’s framework and utilized a seven-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (Never) to 6 (Always) for students to respond to items assessing various dimensions and subdimensions of CT skills.

The CTSAS-SF validation process, with confirmatory factor analysis, resulted in two models with equivalent satisfactory goodness-of-fit indices. Model 4, the second-order factor model (RMSEA = .051; TLI = .924; CFI = .927), had a chi-square/df ratio of 2.33. The Cronbach alpha of the overall instrument was excellent (α = .969). Sample items are shown in Table 1 .

Sample items forming Critical Thinking Self-Assessment Scale (CTSAS), Nair ( 2011 ).

Compared to instruments for assessing CT skills, the availability of instruments for measuring critical thinking (CT) dispositions is limited. However, one of the instruments adopted by the consortium to assess CT dispositions is the Student-Educator Negotiated Critical Thinking Dispositions Scale (SENCTDS), which was developed by Quinn et al. ( 2020 ). The scale was validated with a mixed population of Irish and American undergraduate students. The scale considers a variety of CT dispositions that the authors consider important for the labor market and real-world decision-making. Some of the items in the scale combine Facione ’s ( 1990 ) original CT dispositions into new dimensions that are relevant to academic and labor market success, such as organization, perseverance, and intrinsic goal motivation. The scale consists of six dimensions (Reflection, Attentiveness, Open-mindedness, Organization, Perseverance, and Intrinsic Goal Motivation) and presents statements for students to respond to using a 7-point Likert scale. The Likert scale ranges from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The original version of the SENCTDS contains 21 items. The validation process, with confirmatory factor analysis, identified only one model presenting a satisfactory goodness-of-fit index—model 3, comprised of six correlated factors (RMSEA = .054; TLI = .974; CFI = .969) with a chi-square/df ratio of 2.57. The instrument presented a high Cronbach alpha (α = .842), suggesting a strong internal consistency of the instrument. Sample items are presented in Table 2 .

Sample items from Student-Educator Negotiated Critical Thinking Dispositions Scale (SENCTDS), developed by Quinn et al. ( 2020 ).

The analysis showed gains in critical thinking skills and indicated that changes were more prominent in skills than dispositions. All skills (interpretation, analysis, inference, explanation, self-regulation, and evaluation) obtained significant differences between the pretest and posttest, with p ≤ .0001 to all skills, plus the integrated critical thinking skills score was t = 9.705 and p ≤ .0001, which demonstrates strong significant difference between pre- and the posttest. Dispositions displayed no significant differences regarding the integrated score, but showed significant differences in reflection (t = 1.766, p = .079), open-mindedness (t = 2.636, p = .009), organization (t = 2.568, p = .011), and intrinsic goal motivation (t = 1.712, p = .088).

Based on the findings from the implementation of the blended apprenticeship curricula, the following guidelines were formulated for implementing Critical Thinking Blended Apprenticeship Curricula ( Payan-Carreira et al. 2023 ):

• Provide an explanation of the importance of critical thinking—Clearly communicate to students why critical thinking is a vital skill in today’s workforce and how it is valued in specific professions. Explicitly incorporate the development of critical thinking as an outcome of the course.
• Emphasize continuous and pervasive CT training—To achieve success, there should be a concerted effort across disciplinary curricula to foster students’ critical thinking skills and dispositions. Skills require training, and dispositions necessitate the internalization of desired attitudes. Therefore, sufficient time and a collaborative approach at the disciplinary level are necessary for consistent and significant progress.
• Allocate dedicated time—Building on the previous point, it is essential to allocate specific time within the course to work on the proposed critical thinking goals. Students and educators need to schedule activities and create opportunities for preparation, development, and feedback exchange. This ensures that the intervention leads to meaningful, lasting learning.
• Establish connections with real-world scenarios—Foster student engagement and improve their perception of learning experiences by incorporating case studies that reflect situations professionals encounter in their daily work. By grounding the learning content in reality, students are more likely to be motivated and actively participate in the educational process.

Foster reflection on CT skills and dispositions—Offer students the chance to reflect on their reasoning processes and the attitudes they have developed throughout their learning experiences. Encouraging reflective thinking enhances the effectiveness of learning interventions and helps cultivate a deeper understanding of one’s experiences.

These steps aim to guide educators in effectively implementing the critical thinking blended apprenticeship curricula while also maximizing the impact of critical thinking development in students.

The two European projects made a great start in integrating the skills that employers want employees to learn from university curricula, but the results are nonetheless provisional. There is not a clear agreement among participating universities regarding how best to teach critical thinking, nor any regarding its importance for future jobs. We urge that more work should be done to nurture critical thinking within university curricula in order to provide our current students—who represent the future of the workforce—the much-wanted job-proof skills they need.

5. European Recommendations and Good Practices

Critical thinking stands as a pivotal goal for European Higher Education Institutions. To facilitate the attainment of this objective, we present an educational protocol that draws from comprehensive research and practical experiences, including insights from the CRITHINKEDU project. This protocol amalgamates insights from both theoretical and empirical studies on critical thinking with practical strategies for its cultivation.

Recommendations go toward signing memorandums of understanding between universities and labor market organizations to cultivate strong partnerships ( Rebelo et al. 2023 ). Effective collaboration between universities and businesses is crucial in fostering critical thinking. This partnership thrives on the synergy that results when academic institutions and businesses combine their expertise, resources, and perspectives. Strategies such as aligning goals, fostering long-term commitment, and promoting a culture of collaboration can strengthen these partnerships and ensure that academic research is harmoniously aligned with real-world needs.

Another recommendation relates to the formulation of compelling goals . Accurate and transparent goals are fundamental to the successful implementation of university-industry collaborations to promote critical thinking. These goals must be clearly defined and easily understood at multiple levels, from the institutional to the program and course levels. Recognition of critical thinking as an overarching goal implies its integration into assessment and evaluation processes.

Another recommendation is to develop flexible curricula . To effectively foster critical thinking, curricula must demonstrate adaptability and responsiveness to emerging trends and market demands. The use of agile curriculum design methodologies and the involvement of business partners in curriculum development is of great value. Approaches such as problem-based and case-based learning facilitate rapid adaptation to evolving market needs, such as the use of AI-powered software to solve work tasks better and faster. Regular feedback mechanisms and ongoing collaboration with business partners ensure that curricula remain relevant and flexible.

Incorporating real-world challenges and case studies into curricula bridges the gap between academia and the business world, creating an environment that encourages experiential learning. The active involvement of business stakeholders in providing relevant challenges plays a key role. Students’ problem-solving skills are enhanced by shifting from traditional teaching methods to project-based, problem-based, or case-based learning. Engaging students through apprenticeships, internships, guest lectures, and seminars immerses them in authentic work environments and fosters their professional development.

Ongoing, multi-faceted evaluation is a cornerstone of the collaboration between higher education and the business community to cultivate critical thinking. Assessment includes measuring learners’ progress in critical thinking, the effectiveness of curricula, and the impact of partnerships through the use of key performance indicators.

Regarding how to implement a critical thinking curriculum, pedagogical research ( Elen et al. 2019 ) suggests that in the development of critical thinking, whether it is regarded as a skill, disposition, or a combination of both, three categories of supportive measures can be identified: modeling, induction, and declaration.

Modeling: Support the development of critical thinking skills by demonstrating what it means to think critically at the institutional, programmatic, and course levels, considering multiple perspectives and alternative viewpoints.

Induction: Support critical thinking development by provoking critical thinking through the presentation of open-ended questions, unstructured tasks, complex problems, and real-world issues. The exact nature of “induction” and how it is implemented may vary across fields and disciplines. Induction can be carried out in a variety of ways; for example, presenting unstructured problems, providing authentic tasks, encouraging constructive controversy, asking “why” questions, or encouraging student autonomy.

Explanation: Promote the development of critical thinking by articulating or explicitly stating what is at stake, what strategies can be used, and what criteria must be met. This explanation can take the form of oral or written communication and should always be explicit and specific. Declaring and making things explicit can be accomplished in a variety of ways, including using critical thinking rubrics, developing elaborate concept maps, providing feedback on critical thinking, and engaging in discussion and reflection on critical issues.

This integrated approach, encompassing university-business collaboration and an educational protocol, underscores the significance of critical thinking in higher education. It provides a structured framework for nurturing this essential skill by aligning objectives, fostering partnerships, adapting curricula, and implementing ongoing evaluation practices. In doing so, educational institutions are better poised to equip students with the critical thinking skills needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving world.

6. Concluding Remarks or Can Critical THINKING Save the World?

In summary, the dynamic interaction between universities, businesses, and the evolving technology landscape, including the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and online technologies, underscore the critical need to nurture and develop students’ critical thinking skills. As we navigate the challenges posed by AI and the ever-expanding digital realm, collaborative efforts between academia and industry have proven to be instrumental in preparing students for the future job market.

Incorporating real-world experiences, such as apprenticeships, into the curriculum is an important step toward improving students’ critical thinking skills in real-world contexts. Projects such as “Critical thinking across higher education curricula—CRITHINKEDU” and “Critical thinking for successful jobs—THINK4JOBS” have demonstrated the potential of these collaborations to bridge the gap between classroom learning and industry needs. In addition, the development of flexible curricula that can adapt to the evolving needs of the job market, especially considering online technologies, is essential. By integrating real-world challenges and case studies into the curriculum, students gain valuable problem-solving skills and are better prepared to navigate the complexities of the digital age.

Ongoing assessment and evaluation are critical components of this collaborative effort, ensuring that critical thinking remains a central focus and that students are making meaningful progress in acquiring this essential skill.

With the disruption of AI and the ubiquity of online technologies, the integration of critical thinking into higher education curricula is more important than ever. It enables students not only to thrive in a technology-driven world, but also to contribute to a rational, democratic, and globally interconnected society. The partnerships forged between universities and businesses, along with a well-defined educational protocol, provide a roadmap for cultivating these essential skills and preparing students for the challenges and opportunities of the future job market. The imperative to foster critical thinking in university curricula remains a fundamental step in equipping tomorrow’s workforce to navigate the complexities of an AI-influenced job market and a rapidly changing world.

Lilienfeld ( 2007, para. 3 ) said it well: “The greatest threat to the world is ideological fanaticism, by ideological fanaticism I mean the unshakeable conviction that one’s belief system and that of other in-group members is always right and righteous and that others’ belief systems are always wrong and wrong-headed”. Imagine a world where (most or even many) people use the skills of critical thinking. Just maybe, CT could save the world.

The job market will require a psychologically adaptable toolkit, and we propose that critical thinking is an essential component therein. The disruptions imposed by new technological advances such as AI will require students to learn new employable skills because we will need not just an engineer, but a critical thinking engineer; not just a programmer, but a critical thinking programmer; and not just a journalist, but a critical thinking journalist. The dignity of workers—their humanity and our collective survival—may well depend on CT, a very human creation.

Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank Dana Dunn, Moravian University, for comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

Funding Statement

Daniela Dumitru received funding from European Commission/EACEA, through the ERASMUS+ Programme, “Critical Thinking for Successful Jobs—Think4Jobs” Project, with the reference number 2020-1-EL01-KA203-078797.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, D.F.H. and D.D.; investigation, D.F.H. and D.D.; resources, D.F.H. and D.D.; writing—original draft preparation, D.F.H. and D.D.; writing—review and editing, D.F.H. and D.D. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Explained: Importance of critical thinking, problem-solving skills in curriculum

F uture careers are no longer about domain expertise or technical skills. Rather, critical thinking and problem-solving skills in employees are on the wish list of every big organization today. Even curriculums and pedagogies across the globe and within India are now requiring skilled workers who are able to think critically and are analytical.

The reason for this shift in perspective is very simple.

These skills provide a staunch foundation for comprehensive learning that extends beyond books or the four walls of the classroom. In a nutshell, critical thinking and problem-solving skills are a part of '21st Century Skills' that can help unlock valuable learning for life.

Over the years, the education system has been moving away from the system of rote and other conventional teaching and learning parameters.

They are aligning their curriculums to the changing scenario which is becoming more tech-driven and demands a fusion of critical skills, life skills, values, and domain expertise. There's no set formula for success.

Rather, there's a defined need for humans to be more creative, innovative, adaptive, agile, risk-taking, and have a problem-solving mindset.

In today's scenario, critical thinking and problem-solving skills have become more important because they open the human mind to multiple possibilities, solutions, and a mindset that is interdisciplinary in nature.

Therefore, many schools and educational institutions are deploying AI and immersive learning experiences via gaming, and AR-VR technologies to give a more realistic and hands-on learning experience to their students that hone these abilities and help them overcome any doubt or fear.

ADVANTAGES OF CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING IN CURRICULUM

Ability to relate to the real world:  Instead of theoretical knowledge, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills encourage students to look at their immediate and extended environment through a spirit of questioning, curiosity, and learning. When the curriculum presents students with real-world problems, the learning is immense.

Confidence, agility & collaboration : Critical thinking and problem-solving skills boost self-belief and confidence as students examine, re-examine, and sometimes fail or succeed while attempting to do something.

They are able to understand where they may have gone wrong, attempt new approaches, ask their peers for feedback and even seek their opinion, work together as a team, and learn to face any challenge by responding to it.

Willingness to try new things: When problem-solving skills and critical thinking are encouraged by teachers, they set a robust foundation for young learners to experiment, think out of the box, and be more innovative and creative besides looking for new ways to upskill.

It's important to understand that merely introducing these skills into the curriculum is not enough. Schools and educational institutions must have upskilling workshops and conduct special training for teachers so as to ensure that they are skilled and familiarized with new teaching and learning techniques and new-age concepts that can be used in the classrooms via assignments and projects.

Critical thinking and problem-solving skills are two of the most sought-after skills. Hence, schools should emphasise the upskilling of students as a part of the academic curriculum.

The article is authored by Dr Tassos Anastasiades, Principal- IB, Genesis Global School, Noida. 

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