Posted by:
RPackham
(
)
Date: November 18, 2014 11:06AM
There are excellent books available to help parents develop mature skepticism in children. Here are a few (I have not read them all, but they have been recommended by others).
Maybe Yes, Maybe No: A Guide for Young Skeptics, by Dan Barker
Encourages having an open mind and checking things out to find the truth, rather than blindly accepting everything we hear.
Maybe Right, Maybe Wrong: A Guide for Young Thinkers, by Dan Barker
Discusses learning right from wrong, stressing such aspects as the difference between rules and principles and the importance of an individual's rights.
Just Pretend: A Freethought Book for Children, by Dan Barker
This illustrated book for freethinking children examines religions and myths like God and Santa Claus. Overtly freethought, it encourages the child to make his or her own decisions about religion, and champions skepticism, atheism, and informed doubt.
If You Had to Choose, What Would You Do? (Paperback)
by Sandra McLeod Humphrey,
"The situations presented in this book...can help you talk with children about important moral and social issues."
How Do You Know It's True?: Discovering the Difference Between Science and Superstition (Paperback)
by Hyman Ruchlis
Discusses the difference between science and superstition, the basic nature of science as a way of thinking, and the ways in which amazing events can be explained rationally.
One reviewer: Excellent introductory book on the acquisition of knowledge, with special emphasis on the reliability and utility of the scientific method. A must read for children. I would also recommend it to older adults who are lacking in knowledge concerning the scientific method and how sound logic and reasoning is applied.
Critical Thinking : Book 1 (1201) (Paperback)
by Anita Harnadek
One reviewer: This book teaches logic and argumentation in a simple form. It also teaches how to recognize propaganda and reasoning errors. I have enjoyed learning from this book and I have used it with my children with excellent results.
Do whatever you can to help them develop critical thinking skills. How to recognize propaganda, scams, fairy tales, tall tales, liars, etc., preferably using non-religious subject matter. Make sure they understand that being skeptical is a good thing. Children should be encouraged to ask "How do you know that?" They should be taught that even grown-ups can be mistaken, and they don't need to blindly accept something just because a teacher or a parent says it. If they can learn to recognize that the story of Jack and the Beanstalk is just a make-believe, they should be able to see that the same is true of the story of Noah's Ark or the talking walking snake in the Garden of Eden.
Get them interested in topics of history and science where they contradict Mormonism: geology, anthropology (especially paleoanthropology), astronomy, ancient history, history of the Indians, evolution, etc. If you have good museums where you live, with exhibits in those fields, museum visits would be very impressive.
Website:
http://www.parentingbeyondbelief.com/http://sciencebasedparenting.com/http://skeptikids.org/blog/Videos:
Parenting Beyond Belief, Dale McGowan (also books: Parenting beyond belief and Raising Freethinkers
http://parentingbeyondbelief.com/