Ep 58: How to teach young children to think critically with Julie Bogart

Host: Dr. Cindy Hovington, Ph.D.

Guest: Julie Bogart

Julie Bogart is known for her common sense parenting and education advice. She’s the author of the beloved book, The Brave Learner, which has brought joy and freedom to countless home educators. Her new book, Raising Critical Thinkers, offers parents a lifeline in navigating the complex digital world our kids are confronting. Julie’s also the creator of the award-winning, innovative online writing program called Brave Writer, now 22 years old, serving 191 countries. She home educated her five children who are globe-trotting adults. Today, Julie lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, and can be found sipping a cup of tea while planning her next visit to one of her lifelong-learning kids.

Summary:

In today’s episode, we are joined by Julie Bogart, author of Raising Critical Thinkers and The Brave Learner. We all know the story of the three little pigs, but have you heard it from the wolf’s perspective? Every story has two sides, Julie explains how we can use simple storytelling and poems to introduce the concept of critical thinking to our young children. She urges parents to stop with the “parental propaganda” and allow children to collect their own data and draw conclusions for themselves. Getting your kids to cooperate boils down to understanding why your child doesn’t want to cooperate, what is the WHY behind the meltdown? We take some time to understand the baby steps of learning to read and really realize how important reading is for success in all subjects. Julie has a very interesting stance on how important homework and testing are, tune in to see if you agree!