A great father is a great teacher

Here are five critical thinking skills you must master, so you can one day teach them to your kids

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1. Pattern recognition

Figuring out “what things have in common”

Our brains are pattern recognition machines. We constantly analyze the similarities between people, events, and scenarios to make decisions. Pattern recognition is how we deduce danger. It's also how we prosper.

1a. Pattern recognition

Example exercise:

Say your son loves baseball. Ask: what do all the great hitters have in common? What do they all do the same? What do they do differently? When does a manager usually come out to the pitcher’s mound? Why do you think that is?

2. Reverse engineering

Figuring out “what’s required”

It’s nearly impossible to create anything if you can’t first picture it in your mind. Effective thinkers begin with the result in mind and work backward to determine what steps they need to take. The whole informs the parts.

2a. Reverse engineering

Example exercise:

Say you’re building a birdhouse. Before you begin, ask: what will we need to DO to build this birdhouse? What materials might we need? How will we get them? What instructions might we need? How will we find them? What comes first? Why?