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Turn your kids into Socrates - but without the toga

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Why Should Kids Learn Philosophy?

I know–philosophy sounds boring and probably makes you want to hit the back button on your browser but hear me out. STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) is all the rage right now and honestly our kids are better for it. The future will bring more technology than we’ve ever seen before and the jobs our kids will have someday likely don’t exist yet.

There’s a big problem though. We are good about teaching kids what to learn but we are failing at teaching them HOW to think. If we want our kids to solve increasingly complicated problems, we need to teach kids a higher order of learning that was so important to some of the greatest thinkers of the past. Philosophy can do that! It teaches how to distinguish between prejudice, bias, manipulation, misinformation; how to listen and respond to an opposing argument; and how to ask the questions that drive true inquiry.

Check this out: 9 and 10 year olds who participated in a philosophy class once a week for a year made 2 additional months’ progress in their math and reading scores. Another study reported similar results with higher test scores in verbal, numerical and spatial abilities and showed that gains persisted when tested 2 years later. Amazingly, it also said: “evidence of maintained gains from thinking skills interventions are rare in the literature even within sectors of education, let alone across sectors.”

Recent Posts

20 Fun Lessons In Philosophy

April 6, 2021 By Matt

What if an evil scientist switched your brain with Justin Bieber’s? Is there freewill to change who we are? What can the Kanye West of ancient Athens teach us about a simple life. Explore 20 short and fun topics in philosophy together with your kids. Buy eBook – $12.99 Buy Print Copy – $24.99 We […]

3 Classics: Philosophy Lessons For Kids

June 6, 2020 By Matt

Introduce your kids to 3 classic philosophical works from Plato, Aristotle and Rene Descartes for one lower price than buying separately.

How Should The Story End?

April 9, 2019 By Matt

When one of my daughters had just learned to ride her bike, she quickly got really confident to try things like go up a curb, peddle fast and make sharp turns. On one particular day she was riding through a thin patch of gravel that had spilled from a truck onto the street. There Might […]

Can Two People Be Right In An Argument?

March 25, 2019 By Matt

There is a lot of noise in our house. From the moment the first kid is awake until the last one goes to bed, there is some kind of commotion. It might be banging around cupboards in the kitchen, loud bursts of joy, loud bursts of displeasure or loud bursts that require a referee (the […]

What Is Our Moral Obligation To Those In Extreme Poverty?

March 14, 2019 By Matt

UNICEF estimates that a child under 15 dies every 5 seconds from extreme poverty. A large majority of these deaths are children under 5 years old and at least half are newborns. They die from diseases such as malaria and intestinal worms or because they don’t have access to clean water or have enough to […]

Could Kids Create Rules For A New Society?

March 4, 2019 By Matt

Baseball was my life when I was a 12 year old kid. I couldn’t get enough of it. Between 1987 and 1990, I either watched or listened (on the radio) to pretty much every broadcast of San Francisco Giants baseball games. I kept track of player stats on my own because the newspaper just didn’t […]

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About Me

Hi, I'm Matt. I tried a crazy experiment with my 8 & 9 year old kids and read Plato with them. Yeah, that ancient greek guy. They were engaged and asked great questions which made me realize how well philosophy can encourage their critical thinking. It sparked a project to create study guides for us to explore other philosophical works. [More]

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Purchase Study Guides

20 Fun Lessons In Philosophy

What if an evil scientist switched your brain with Justin Bieber’s? Is there freewill to change who we are? What can the Kanye West of ancient Athens teach us about a simple life. Explore 20 short and fun topics in philosophy together with your kids. Buy eBook – $12.99 Buy Print Copy – $24.99 We […]

3 Classics: Philosophy Lessons For Kids

Introduce your kids to 3 classic philosophical works from Plato, Aristotle and Rene Descartes for one lower price than buying separately.

What Did Aristotle Look For In A BFF? On Friendship - Aristotle

Can you guess Aristotle’s opinion on Instagram followers and Facebook friends? Turns out, he gives us a pretty good answer. What do you think makes a good friendship? How many friends can we have? Try to apply old ideas to modern concepts of friendship.

Are You For Real!? Meditations On First Philosophy - René Descartes

How do I know if I’m real? Are my senses fooling me? Am I dreaming or am I really riding this ostrich on top of the White House? Join us as we dig into René Descartes’ Meditations about what truly exists and what is suspect to doubt.

The Tuttle Twins - a child's foundation of freedom

Related Articles

  • 20 Fun Lessons In Philosophy
  • 3 Classics: Philosophy Lessons For Kids
  • How Should The Story End?
  • Can Two People Be Right In An Argument?
  • What Is Our Moral Obligation To Those In Extreme Poverty?
  • Could Kids Create Rules For A New Society?
  • Is There Free Will To Change Who You Are?

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