The Importance of Preschool Academics

Possibly the most striking development in early childhood, especially from a parent's point of view, is the development of speech and language capabilities. The first time your child says "Mama" or "Dada" will undoubtedly be, or undoubtedly was, a seminal moment in your life. It is generally accepted that when a child first starts developing language skills, the child is ready to begin a rudimentary education. Indeed, the child's education begins whether the parent assists or not.

The Critical Thinking Co. produces a whole line of products for pre-K children that can help parents expand their children's vocabularies, reading skills, and even their math skills. While children should not be expected to pick up Dickens or multiplication tables so early on, young children are perfectly capable of learning basic addition and subtraction and reading simple children's books. At this stage, a parent's involvement is crucial.

A parent is usually a child's first resource for learning vocabulary and for learning how things work in general. This tremendous responsibility causes some new parents to fret and feel incapable of providing the proper foundations for later education. At The Critical Thinking Co., however, we have put enormous effort into developing products that are accessible to children, will develop the basis for higher order thinking, and are easy for parents to use.

Childhood should be fun, no doubt about it, and it should be carefree (for the children anyway) but it should also be looked at as the foundation upon which the rest of a child's life will be built. Preparing children for the challenges they will face in school and in life are the definite domain of parents. The Critical Thinking Co. can help you make certain your child is prepared to learn, to make decisions, and to succeed.

Early childhood is a time of wonder, openness, insatiable curiosity, and immense parental influence. The best way to help ensure your child's success later in life (from elementary school through adolescence and on) is to lay the groundwork for the education that will help them achieve their goals--whenever they figure out what those goals are. Early childhood curriculum should not be too demanding, of course, but it should present learning challenges.

The Critical Thinking Co. has developed a number of products parents can use to teach thinking skills and to build a child's confidence and exuberance for learning. During this period in a child's life, his or her cognitive abilities will expand faster and more profoundly that at any other time. By exposing your child to basic language skills and the rudiments of math, reading, writing, reasoning, art, and science, he or she can start school ahead of the curve.

Remembering that childhood should be fun, however, The Critical Thinking Co. developed our early childhood products with fun in mind. Through the use of rhyming riddles, colorful graphics, and accessible language, our products are as enticing to children and as fun for them as they are good for them. Our products were also designed with the schedules of busy parents in mind. They are easy to use and do not require hours of drills or tests.

The Critical Thinking Co. approach to early childhood education is based not on the accrual of facts and rules but rather on building good thinking skills. Our products introduce young children to logic, reason, and critical thinking in ways that they can understand. As the children then grow, they have the basic tools they will need to understand everything that comes after.

Through the tireless efforts of countless educators, parents, psychologists, and other concerned professionals, early childhood development has changed fundamentally. There was a time when children under five years of age were considered to be incapable of rational thought or of beginning their educations. Now, however, it is widely accepted that young children are fully capable of learning the basics before kindergarten.

Children that are exposed to basic arithmetic, language, and writing skills can enter into kindergarten with skill sets equal to those of many second graders. Small children are like sponges and they can soak up lessons that often astonish their parents. This early educational foundation can foster a joy of learning and, in later years, can put them far ahead of state and federal standards.

When some people think of early childhood education, they think of kids chained to desks and being robbed of their childhoods. At The Critical Thinking Co., however, nothing could be further from the truth. The Critical Thinking Co. early childhood products are designed specifically with fun in mind. From colorful pictures and rhyming riddles to interactive drawing and coloring lessons, our products introduce creative thinking and logic in ways children enjoy.

Whether to give your child a head start, to help your child catch up, or to provide a complete homeschool education, The Critical Thinking Co. provides educational content that is both fun and effective. Our products meet and exceed all federal standards and have been improving grades and test scores for 50 years.

Today it is widely accepted that young children are fully capable of learning to read, add, subtract, and use organized analysis to solve problems. Although some critics of preschool academics believe that early childhood should be limited to play, it is generally accepted that preschool children are capable and benefit from academic development. Whether you're sending your child to an academic preschool, a traditional play-based school, or homeschooling, adding preschool academics to your preschool curriculum can have a significant impact on your child's academic experience.

We believe preschool age children should have fun. Drill and memorization does not work, but well designed preschool activities can be stimulating, engaging, and fun. Like older children, preschool children love to learn and exercise their minds when properly engaged. Preschool material must be colorful, easily understood, sequenced in small steps, game like, and solvable in a short period. In addition, we encourage discussion and one on one tutoring.

We also engineer critical thinking into our preschool material to help engage students and teach them organized analysis. Discussion and critical thinking questioning strategy lead to deeper analysis of content. This makes the learning process more about absorbing and reflecting on all facets of the material in a natural and curious state. Here are a few examples of questions that invoke informal reasoning: "Why did you select that one?" "How are these different?" "What happened when you?" "What would happen if you?" "What can you do to make this happen?" "How do you think s/he feels about what happened?" These types of questions develop critical thinking skills and stimulate verbal development as the children try to communicate their reasoning. It also provides them with the opportunity to reason during the course of a discussion, an essential early cognitive development skill.

By designing critical thinking into preschool activities, we build self-esteem, lay a foundation for formal education, and develop a life-long love of learning. The Critical Thinking Company's early childhood products are fun, engaging, and effective. The products introduce young children to logic, reason, and critical thinking in ways that they can understand.

Reading, writing, and math readiness. Develops analysis skills for academic learning!

Building Thinking Skills® Beginning (©2008), provides fun, highly effective and engaging reasoning activities to improve the vocabulary, pre-reading, pre-writing, math, logic, spatial, and auditory processing skills of preschoolers. It teaches children to use organized analysis instead of guesswork to solve problems as it develops critical thinking skills necessary for success in reading, math, writing, and science.?The title may be used as a complete critical thinking curriculum to prepare young minds for preschool academics. The book uses colorful, easy-to-understand activities, sequenced in small steps, many gamelike, and solvable in a short period.
More Building Thinking Skills Activities

Once upon a time, preschool was considered to be either an excess of over-achieving parents or an alternative to daycare. In the past few decades, however, research into early childhood development has shown that children are prepared to start their educations much earlier than previously thought. As long as children are still given time to play and be children, an early start on education is nothing but beneficial.

Once a child starts speaking and developing a vocabulary, that child is ready to start learning the fundamentals. Early childhood curricula from The Critical Thinking Co. introduce preschool-age children to the rudiments of reading, writing, math, science, and social science. As a child's language skills develop, so too does the child's ability to start thinking logically, problem solving, and building the foundations of more complex skill sets.

If this sounds somewhat intense for the under-five crowd, keep in mind that all of this is achieved with riddles, puzzles, games, and activities that appeal to young children. There is no reason a small child cannot have a fun and carefree childhood while simultaneously developing the skills he or she will need for the rest of his or her life. With The Critical Thinking Co. products, your child can start kindergarten knowing how to read and write, and add and subtract.

Whether you are a parent planning to homeschool your child, a parent looking to give your child a head start, or an educator leading a small preschool class, The Critical Thinking Co. products can put you and your child on the right track. Helping students at all stages of development achieve success has been the impetus behind The Critical Thinking Co. for over 30 years.

There isn't an easier or more effective way to bring critical thinking into your home! We've put together this easy-order book bundle so you don't have to.

This bundle offers our top-selling PreK products at a 20% discount, so you get more for less.
PreK Bundles

Thinker Doodles activities develop a wide variety of thinking skills as they engage your child in drawing and coloring. More fun than mindless coloring books, Thinker Doodles develop organized analysis and motor skills needed for success in reading, writing, and mathematics. These quick, fun activities can be used in the classroom, after school, at home, and on trips to stimulate developing minds.
Thinker Doodles for PreK

Circle of Moms