Raising critical thinkers

Lately Wood Sprite has been having trouble with compartmentalizing things as being black or white, and while I know that it’s mostly her age, it is constantly frustrating her. I’ve been trying to explain how things aren’t black and white as such:

Sprite: How do I know if a person is good or bad? I think since he did something bad he’s a bad person!

Me: Well, I do bad things. I yell at you sometimes. Does that make me a bad person?

Sprite: No. Yes. I don’t know!

Me: What about you? You do things that aren’t very nice sometimes. Are you bad?

Sprite: Am I on the naughty list?

As you can see, it’s confusing for her and it’s hard to explain. It’s not just about “bad people,” but about all kinds of issues. She is also reluctant to like things, people, or even movies that I don’t like, which I’m trying to remedy, too. We keep having talks about these issues over and over again but they don’t seem to be helping all that much—or, if they do, it’s temporary, and she’s back to confusion the next day. She’s also being exposed to several faiths in her life between friends and family, which also confuses her. As good as it is for kids to be exposed to different opinions, sometimes all it does is frustrate them. They need to understand concepts first before they hear everybody’s side.

How do you help your kids think more critically about the gray areas of life and critically examine evidence?

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