In the previous article “Poor mathematics scores, it is more likely that the language did not learn well”< In /span>, I put forward an argument: logic is not mathematics, logic is a language.
In today’s society, children’s math scores bother many parents. Troubles belong to troubles. There are very few people who can do exactly what to do to help children. In order to improve children’s mathematics scores, parents are easy to fall into misunderstandings, focusing on the mathematics knowledge that children have already mastered or easily mastered, but ignore the logical language skills that are really hindering.
Logic and mathematics are closely related, but they exist independently. Having one does not mean that you will automatically have the other. In children’s mathematics learning, the two depend on each other and are indispensable. Based on my observations in real classrooms, I believe that knowledge of mathematics is not a barrier that prevents most children from achieving high scores, but rather the logical language ability used to describe mathematics, which limits many children’s mathematics.
Different from mathematics, logic is like a natural language. It can be mastered through learning and repeated practice. It has nothing to do with a child’s “IQ” or “mathematics ability”. Too much of a relationship.
Today we will talk about how to improve children’s logical ability. It should be noted in advance that since the current research on logic and children’s cognitive development is very limited, the arguments in this article will be extended from other fields, and more based on my personal experience and opinions.
This article is from WeChat official account:阿肉阿团 (ID: yiqiuyiyang ), author: Yilong, Qiu days, editor: Bo Chao, the original title: “the pups develop human logic”, the first map from: vision China
My suggestion is: Teach children logic like they teach language.
A study conducted by Levine in 2010 pointed out that parents performed number-related pairswords(number talk) can predict the child’s perception of cardinal numbers at 46 months: the more “numbers” the parent or the main caregiver talks to the child, the child’s understanding of the number The better the understanding, and this better understanding can continue after elementary school, making it easier for children to achieve success in mathematics.
In fact, the conversation about numbers is not really “teaching” children math. Since there is no teaching, why do children’s math scores improve after they grow up? My inference is that the numbers that parents and children talk about are constantly infiltrated into children in the form of language, so that children are more familiar with numbers as a frequent phenomenon in life, the logical laws behind it, and logical language rules< /strong>, which makes it easier for children to learn mathematics.
Children have a strong ability to absorb and transform language, so when we teach children to speak and learn natural language, it is also a good time for mathematics and logic language education.
Think about it, children will never be able to speak when they are born. How do we teach children to speak? Does it depend on interpreting grammar for children? Do you rely on the TOEFL test in Chinese? Is it by forcing children to recite Chinese words? neither! It’s nothing more than talking to the child, letting the child listen and use it more.
To sum up, there are two main points:
Speak more to the child, and give the child more logical “input”.
Let children use more, “output” more, and practice logic more.
We will explain in detail next.
Second, talk more to children, let them use more
This seems to be very simple. Can’t you just chat with your child? For example, the following bunch of common logical words:
Because it is and or not,
Only can we say,
But it goes further,
In short, it must be possible,
Because of this,
Since I have to.
But in real life, the use of these logical vocabulary is still secondary. More importantly, all logical language must be closely integrated with the children’s life, so that children realize that logic is very useful and can help them personally. Life becomes better.
First of all, From the moment a child is born, we can permeate various causal explanations into our lives.Especially when establishing rules for children, we can all Explain the consequences to the child.
For example, if the child wants to touch the switch, of course we have to stop it. After stopping, we can explain to the child: “You can’t touch the switch, because after you put your finger in, the current will pass through your body, and you will tremble awkwardly. It looks funny, but it’s actually too dangerous. You You will be severely injured, so you must not touch it.”
Explanation of rules is a very meaningful and basic approach in the process of parenting. This method can not only help children strengthen their logical abilities, but also establish a closer relationship of trust with them, allowing them to understand that your rules are not to restrain him, but to help him. Once parents consciously develop the habit of explaining everything, children will naturally become accustomed to this logical thinking mode.
Secondly, in addition to explaining the rules, we can also help children explain their own emotions.And behavior.
If the child is crying, we can observe the situation and make guesses to help the child sort out his emotions: “I saw you cry because my brother took your hammer away, but you haven’t finished playing yet, you feel very Sad.” If the child does not eat well and starts playing with food and tableware, we can say: “I saw you playing with spoons. Is it because you are full? If you are full, you can send the bowls and tableware to the kitchen. .”
In the previous article on social emotion learning, we mentioned that children have limited knowledge and understanding of their emotions. With the help of adults, they can learn to manage faster and better. My emotions deal with various situations more calmly. At the same time, helping children explain their emotions and providing them with a richer logical environment is also a good way to kill two birds with one stone.
Finally, we can promote logical language and permeate all aspects of life, so that children can fully appreciate the meaning and weight of logical language.
For example, when we are reading a picture book with our children, we can initiate a discussion: Why are so hungry caterpillars so hungry? This is not only a logical training, but also a good place to practice bold assumptions and a good opportunity for children to learn to refute you.
We can guide the children to ask: “Is the caterpillar hungry because it didn’t eat breakfast? Is it because it only eats snacks and does not eat staple foods, so it is hungry?”
When talking about various picture books, we can often try to jump out of the picture books: every character, every action, and every event in a picture book should have a reason behind it. Some picture books mention the reasons, while others leave room for imagination. Some reasons can be inferred, while others are inexplicable. We can completely open our minds, guess by ourselves, let the children guess together, and cooperate with the children, trying to build more logical connections between the story and the characters.
The thing to note here is that we shouldn’t dwell on the “correct” answer. For example, a caterpillar is so hungry, it actually needs to store energy to become a butterfly. But this is not important. “Blind guessing” is the key: the starting point for all real thinking training must first be bold assumptions.
Next, can we find supporting evidence after making the hypothesis? For example, if I guess that the caterpillar is hungry because it only eats snacks and does not eat staple foods, then I can find evidence: you see, sure enough, it patronizes fruits and ice cream, etc. delicious and serious riceI haven’t eaten any dishes. If the bold hypothesis is followed by careful verification, the logical energy will be reflected in an instant. Evidence embodies the power of “persuasion.”
My personal experience is that at this time, children tend to show impressive wisdom. Children will find all kinds of strange reasons, and all kinds of strange evidence, sometimes it makes sense.
Compared with the seemingly diverse options on the market, it is actually the so-called “thinking class” that allows children to “recite” some patterns. This kind of wild “bold hypothesis, careful verification” is the real thinking training.
Three, those difficult problems in practice
Every child will have the stage of constantly asking “why”. In fact, this is the realization of the logical energy, and the child begins to have the desire to use it independently. Many times, as parents, we also know that we need to avoid suppressing this desire as much as possible. When the child asks about the logical relationship, he also hopes that he can respond positively, so that the child feels really fun, really useful, and really good.
However, this matter is simple to say but difficult to do. For example, the two most common difficulties are:
The bear kid stumped me. I don’t understand and can’t answer. How can I correct this?
I tried very hard to explain, but the bear kid just couldn’t listen, and he refuted me, which made me mad…
Don’t be upset, it’s actually very common and nothing terrible.
1. I don’t know what to do
At the beginning of the last article, I talked about a negative case in which I “don’t understand” and tried to perfuse my child:
Meatball asked me: Dad, why does Little Potato always climb trees?
I replied: Some people like to climb trees.
I admit, this is obviously perfunctory.
Actually, my implication is: It’s my shit, it’s your shit, I really don’t care, and we don’t need to care. Some people like it, can we manage it?
The deeper implication is: I don’t understand.
I also saw a perfunctory case of a teacher playing a child in the child’s kindergarten. In fact, this teacher is also a very good teacher, not only observing children, but also willing to think. This is not to say that this teacher is not good, but that people who are not sages and sages can do nothing. This case is more typical. Let us learn from it:
Meatballs: Why is hippo called hippopotamus?
Teacher: It’s called hippopotamus. Then why is Apple called apple?
Think about it, everyone, what does it mean to ask? In other words, the teacher actually doesn’t know why. Not only did she not know, but she also didn’t understand what was so good about it. She hopes to make meatballs understand through rhetorical questions: There is no reason behind this, and the hippo is called hippopotamus anyway.
It doesn’t matter if the question is right, the interest that the child had just ignited was extinguished by a basin of cold water. What’s more, of course there is a reason behind this, and everything has a reason. Hippo is the horse in ancient Greek, and Potamus is the river in ancient Greek, so this is hippopotamus, an English word derived from ancient Greek.
Actually, once a child enters the stage of constantly asking “why”, we as parents often quickly realize that we have lived as a dog at an age, so why don’t we understand anything? At this time, many parents are perfunctory at the slightest level, and become angry from embarrassment at the worst.
We don’t have to be too arrogant. Human nature. Most parents have made this mistake. We are not the reincarnation of Encyclopedia, there are always things we don’t understand, so don’t be too harsh on yourself. However, we can’t kill the child because of this.Curious nature, restrain the child’s just budding logical development, right? If the child’s questioning is suppressed for a long time, it will not only waste a lot of great opportunities for logic training, but also dampen the child’s curiosity and discourage the child’s drive to explore and learn.
So, what should I do when I am stuck?
In fact, we already knew the answer. Don’t pretend to understand if you don’t understand, and openly admit: I don’t know either.
Many children, especially smart children, their biggest enemy is that they dare not admit that they don’t understand, they dare not ask for help, and they dare not ask “silly questions.”
I teach at Tsinghua University and I often meet many smart students. However, students who are equally talented and hardworking, why are some people mediocre and some outstanding? From the perspective of my own course, I think the biggest difference is whether I dare to admit that I don’t understand. A truly outstanding person must be a person who dares to ask questions. If you can’t ask all kinds of “silly questions,” you can’t ask the really good questions.
If we are always omniscient and omnipotent in the eyes of our children, never admit our mistakes, and do not seek help, then I am afraid we are setting a wrong example for our children.
I have a very knowledgeable friend who shared his story with me. His father’s education is not high and his knowledge is very limited. When he was young, whenever he asked his father a question, his father would honestly say: I don’t know, wait for me to find the answer. Then his father would take the time to go to the library to read the book (there was no Internet in China at that time) until he found the answer, and then happily talk to him share it. His father’s behavior has benefited him a lot. Not only did he grow up to be a person who can ask questions, he is also very happy and good at finding answers.
A child’s role model should not be a superman, but rather a person who dares to admit his limitations and is modest and studious.
Now that the Internet is so developed, if there is any problem with the child, you might as well admit that you don’t understand it and ask the child to wait. We searched the Internet at hand and found the answer, and then we could share it happily together. Didn’t find the answer yet? Not in a hurry, go to the Q&A platform to post a post, and ask in the parenting sharing group of Ah Rou A Tuan, you may get help.
If more than one is foundThe answer? What if a contradictory answer is found? This is a good time: just to show children how to distinguish the authenticity of information and how to establish their own independent critical thinking. We don’t even need to deliberately show it, just tell the children how we searched for the answer, what and how to judge the credibility of the information. When the child grows up, we can take him to find the answer, teach him some methods, and then let the child fly for a while. Before you can react, he has already started looking for answers independently.
2. The disobedient child is pissed off
My PhD supervisor Tao Zhexuan once told me,He thinks that the most effective logic training for most children is to fight with their parents. At this time, the child must concentrate, sort out and analyze what the parents are saying and what they have said in the past, and then find the logical loopholes of the parents, and at the same time sort out their own ideas, and do their best to use complete logic to convince the parents.
Whether this is the most effective, let’s put it aside. But generally speaking, the most easily recognizable characteristic of children’s logical development is often “disobedience”. A child who is “obedient” in everything, either has an emotional quotient, knows how to coax adults, and has a different set of predecessors; or the IQ is not online, and he can’t tell right from wrong, so he can only rely on “obedient” Make no mistakes.
“Being obedient” is instinct, and “not obedient” requires a little brainstorming. You don’t see, when a child is sleepy and dizzy, often the child does what the parent says in a daze. Only when the child is clear-headed and has sharp eyes can he disobey and refute the parents.
For example, if a child wants to play a high slide, the parent thinks it is too dangerous to let the child slide; but the child evaluates it by himself and thinks it is not dangerous, so he “disobeys”, crying and making trouble slip. This logic-based “disobedience” is a very good phenomenon.
Children must first understand that whether they can play slides depends on whether they are dangerous or not. They must compare the slides in front of them with the abstract “dangerous standards” and understand that “my dangerous standards are different from those of adults. I can trust my own standards.” “In this way, the child can disobey, rather than completely obey the requirements of the adults. This is not only a survival skill that needs to be exercised, but also a very complicated logical process.
(Of course, let children not slide thisThe slide depends on the psychological bottom line of different parents: some parents are unwilling to let their children get hurt, and they will definitely stop the children; some parents are willing to try dangerous behaviors more and help them understand the risks more clearly. , Will let the child go to challenge. Regardless of the parents’ bottom line, as long as they can justify themselves and implement them steadily, they can eventually be accepted by their children in their logical system. )
This is like the ultimate form of social development, it must be a society ruled by law. If you say it, it doesn’t count, I say it doesn’t count, and it doesn’t count if the law says it. Whether a child’s behavior is right or wrong is often attributed to logic. Why right? Why wrong? This matter is not counted if the child says it, the adult says it is not counted, whoever makes sense will have the final say.
If children are aware of this, they can combine the child’s own moral cognition to make a logical analysis (find the “reason” of “Tao”, abbreviated Reason), so as to know whether it is right or wrong, so that you are not obedient, then congratulations, congratulations, the education is very successful, your baby is very powerful.
Give your child more opportunities to explain everything, and listen to your child’s reasons, even if it’s an excuse. For example, the child shouldn’t eat cookies anymore, but the cookies are so delicious, he especially wants to eat another one. At this moment, he would gather all his strength and rack his brains to find an excuse to ask for biscuits. Do you think excuses are easy to find? An excuse must be self-consistent, reasonable, and achieve the goal of eating biscuits. This is a very logical test.
When children try their best to convince parents for their own benefit, it is the best time for them to exercise their logic. If a child’s logic breaks out and suddenly finds a very clever reason or excuse that makes people angry and funny, isn’t this also something to be proud of? If possible, we can even take the initiative to find opportunities to let the child logically defeat the parent and let him taste the sweetness of logic.
Once a child has tasted the sweetness of logic, his logical development is likely to be blocked.Can’t help. After all, logic is different from mathematics. Logic is a language and does not require much talent. In the final analysis, it only requires children to develop logical habits, use them more, and practice more.
Conclusion
Alright, let’s finally summarize the key to training children’s logical ability:
Speak more to children, let them use more
Explain the rules to your children more so that they understand that everything has a reason.
Help children explain their own emotions and behaviors.
Try to use logic to describe all aspects of life and establish more logical connections.
What should parents do if they encounter problems
When encountering a problem that the parents don’t understand, don’t pretend to understand, just admit it, and lead the child to find the answer.
When children are “disobedient”, it is often an important path for them to develop logic. Don’t “block”, but try to guide and appreciate.
The next step is to practice a lot with our children.
This article is from WeChat official account:阿肉阿团 (ID: yiqiuyiyang) , author: Yilong, Qiu days, editing: Bochao