Reasoning

Reasoning relates how we generate one idea from other(s).  We reason when we:

• brainstorm, 
• consider and explain cause and effect,
• compare and contrast, 
• problem solve, 
• figure out how to best relate our ideas and opinions to others, 
• or even when conducting a witch trail (like Monty Python in the video attached).

Philosophers such as Pythagoras, Plato, Descartes, Hobbes, Maimonides, Locke, Hume Rousseau, Kant, Hegel and Nietzsche have all contributed to the discussion of  reason. I, however, approach it from a developmental psychology perspective, specifically from that of Swills psychologist, Jean Piaget.

While Piaget is more well known for his stages of cognitive development, what most appeals to me is his theory of how kids begin to reason and construct levels of understanding:

According to Piaget, reasoning involves "assimilating" (or incorporating) new information into our existing 'schema' (or rules of understanding).  When we face something we can't define, predict, or understand, we enter an (uncomfortable) state of "disequilibrium".  When in this state we try to tweak and work out inconsistencies until they make sense.  Piaget termed this process reflexive abstraction as we reflect, compare, contrast, reason rehearse, and rearrange facts and observations to reach a more comfortable level of understanding. 

As we reason and build understanding we will either:

• ignore what we can't understand, OR 
• construct newer levels of understanding, incorporating more aspects of the problem we face to accommodate the conflicting information. 

Sometimes this new understanding will hold over time, sometimes it won't.  These states of disequilibrium are where effective learning, reasoning, and constructing understanding take place.
Piaget provides a famous "conservation" experiment to show how kids construct knowledge.  This is best done with kids ages 5-8 who are beginning to go beyond the obvious or "concrete" and begin to "abstract," factoring a variety of aspects including those which are so obvious. 

From: sciencebuddies.org

WE BEGINS WITH A QUESTION:  In front of your child, measure a given amount of liquid, say 1/2 cup of water (using measuring cup  "B") and pour the liquid into a tall narrow glass "A" and another 1/2 cup into short wide glass "C".  Ask your child which has more - glass "A" or glass "C"? 

[Sound familiar:? How many times have siblings argued because you poured "more" lemonade or milk shake for one and not the other because you had different sized glasses?]

A young child (typically below the age of 7) will tell you that glass "A" has more because it is "taller" or "higher" or "more."  This is because younger kids will focus on one aspect of the problem, typically what they see.  In this case it is the height.  They do not look at volume.

So, to help them reason and grasp the concept of volume, Piaget would then have the child pour 1/2 cup of liquid from "B" into "A" and that same amount again from "B" into "C" asking again which has more, "A" or "C"?  If child still said "A" - because it is higher,  have the child write down the exact amount going into "A" and then "C" pointing out that it is the same amount.  Then ask why "A" still looks like more. 

Piaget might also play around with different glasses.  He might, for example add glass"D" (the same size as "C") and have the child pour the same amount that is in "C" into "D" - asking which has 'more" (with the child answering 'they're the same'). Piaget would then have the child pour the liquid from "D" into "A" and ask again which has more.  The point is to create a state of disequilibrium where the child begins to recognize that maybe "A" (for some reason) doesn't have more.  Through questioning and experimenting adults can help their child reason that it is not just the height of the glass but its width as well.

HOW DOES THIS TRANSLATE FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILD?
HOW CAN YOU HELP YOUR CHILD LEARN TO REASON?  PRACTICE!  Talk and ask questions about the world around you:

• When walking outside ask why some robins have bright read breasts and others don't.  Why some mallard ducks have bright green or blue on their necks and others don't.
• Why do some birds have long beaks and others short ones?
• Ask why some streets have stop signs or lights and others don't.
• Ask them to predict things, ask why people they see in a movie or read about in a book do something unusual or silly.
• When driving in a car at night, ask them if they think the moon is following them?  Why?  How? What if one of you want in one direction, and your friend in another - would the moon follow both of you?  How?

You get the idea.  The trick, is to ask the questions and let your child think of the answers.  If their answers are not quite right, ask more questions to help them recognize other aspects of the problem.  Let them wrestle, reason, problem solve and brainstorm.

Requests:

• Please let me know if you'd like me to pursue this further, or if you have any other questions.
• In your comments, Please share the types of questions you ask your kids and please share their wonderfully funny responses.  Here are a few Art Linkletter collected over his career.

For further reading, here are some related blogs I've posted:

• "Options, Shining Opportunities, Opening Worlds..." http://departingthetext.blogspot.com/2011/04/options-shining-opportunities-opening.html
• "Kicking Back a Bit...What's All This About Inference?" http://departingthetext.blogspot.com/2011/03/kicking-back-bitwhats-all-this-about.html
• "INSPIRING:  Looking at the World From Another Perspective - Richard Feynman Style"http://departingthetext.blogspot.com/2011/03/looking-at-world-from-another.html
• "On Creativity"http://departingthetext.blogspot.com/2010/08/words-to-whys.html
• "Departing the Text 101:  Beginners Manual http://departingthetext.blogspot.com/2010/07/departing-text-101-beginners-manual.html

              

The Staples Commercial or... It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like School

Like it or not, summer is over and school is here.  I always think of an old Staples commercial where you hear the song, "It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas" playing while Dad clicks his heels up as he merrily shops with his kids for school supplies.

Whether this is a happy, sad or anxious time of year for you and your child, here are some suggestions to help effectively deal with the summer/school transition:  

1) Keep your child smiling.  This may mean funky erasers, decorated notebooks, dividers, school bags or pencil holders.  It may involve stickers or painting a smiley face in your child's homework pad or  lunch bag. 

2) Keep your child organized.  When organized, your child can more efficiently tackle school's cognitive and social issues.  Organization is a skill.  For some of us it comes naturally, for others it must be painstakingly learned. 

For your young child: model executive skills and set up their workspace and book bags, giving them some decision making power (color of notebook, pens, pen/pencil holders, folders, etc.) you can both live with. 

For your older child:  Brainstorm on materials needed given the subject requirements, the space available (in the desk, locker, book bag, at home), and the budget available.  Consider weight and durability of materials along with prioritizing needs and likes.  Tweak and compromise suggestions.  By working together, you are teaching your child to recognize and weigh multiple aspects of a problem, you are teaching problem solving skills, budgeting and math skills and by involving them you are providing greater 'executive' experience.

3) Set up Routines keeping in mind what you can and cannot control. 

Set up calendars so you and your child can keep track of what is happening that day / week.  Set up homework and play schedules.  This will help them develop a more effective and efficient sense of time.

Note that play/down time are as important as homework time.  Some kids can sit for hours doing productive work (and have 'play' time before and/or after their homework time).  Others have shorter spans of attention and 'productive' homework time.  For these kids schedule many mini homework breaks (which can include snack time, dinner, a short game, sms'ing and/or television time).


4) Establish bedtimes and sleep routines making sure your child gets a good night's sleep.  Set up 'going to sleep routines'- especially for the kids who resist going to sleep and/or who have trouble slowing down.  Routines can include quiet music, quiet reading, washing up, reading aloud, bed tuck ins and saying prayers and/or thinking about wishes for what tomorrow may bring.

5) Set up play dates (especially for children beginning new schools).  Ask the school for a list of kids near you or a list of other new kids entering your child's class.  Set up play and/or homework dates with them.  Help ease the 'feeling alone' jitters. 

6) Review what your child did in school that day.  This will help with memory and keep up the classroom excitement.  Watch related movies together about those topics or go visit local historical and cultural sites that relate to the topic. 

7) Preview what the next day will bring [before (not at) bedtime - no need to get them anxious before going to sleep].  Maybe during dinner talk about what your child may be doing the next day. You may want to do this again at breakfast.  Get her mind and imagination going, get  him thinking about what he will or might be learning.  This will also gives your child more time to think about how he or she might contribute to class discussion or writing assignments and provides additional memory paths.

In short, keep school and learning alive and exciting.  Empower your child to take command and assume growing responsibility for his and her space and domains. 

I would love to hear what you are doing to help with your child's school transitions.  We can all learn from each other. 

In the meantime, may this be a happy, productive 2010-2011 academic year!