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Anecdotes and the insights gained through study combine to probe the philosophical thought of children and the ways children blend reasoning and curiosity to deal with problems concerning knowledge, value, and existence.
Adult preconceptions about the mental life of children tend to discourage a child’s philosophical bent. By exposing the underpinnings of adult views of childhood, Matthews clears the way for recognizing the philosophy of childhood as a legitimate field of inquiry and conducts us through influential models for understanding what it is to be a child.
Philosophy for Young Children is a concise, practical guide for teachers. It contains detailed session plans for 36 philosophical enquiries that will enable them to introduce philosophy to their children quickly and with confidence.
What does it mean to be good? Why do people die? What is friendship? Children enter the world full of questions and wrestle with deep, thoughtful issues, even if they do not always wonder them aloud. Many parents have the desire to discuss philosophical ideas with their children, but are unsure how to do so. The Philosophical Child offers parents guidance on how to gently approach philosophical questions with children of all ages. Jana Mohr Lone argues that for children to mature emotionally, they must develop their desire and ability to think abstractly about themselves and their experiences. This book suggests easy ways that parents can engage with their children's philosophical questions and help them develop their "philosophical selves."
Big Ideas for Little Kids includes everything a teacher, a parent, or a college student needs to teach philosophy to elementary school children from picture books. Written in a clear and accessible style, the book explains why it is important to allow young children access to philosophy during primary-school education. Wartenberg also gives advice on how to construct a "learner-centered" classroom, in which children discuss philosophical issues with one another as they respond to open-ended questions by saying whether they agree or disagree with what others have said.
Are children natural philosophers? They are curious about questions such as the meaning and purpose of being alive and whether we can know anything at all. Pre-college philosophy takes as a starting point young people’s inherent interest in large questions about the human condition. Philosophy and Education: Introducing Philosophy to Young People seeks to illuminate the ways in which philosophy can strengthen and deepen pre-college education. The book examines various issues involved in teaching philosophy to young people at different grade levels, including assessing what teachers need in order to teach philosophy and describing several models for introducing philosophy into schools. Ways to explore specific branches of philosophy – ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, aesthetics, and logic – through literature, thought experiments, and games and activities, as well as traditional philosophy texts, are described. The book’s final section considers student assessment and program evaluation, and analyzes the contributions pre-college philosophy can make to education in general. Teachers and educators – and parents – all want young people to grow up with the skills they need to pursue their own goals and become productive and successful adults. Thinking independently and reasoning clearly are central to these objectives. Philosophy helps students develop some of the analytic skills they need to engage in thoughtful decision-making throughout their lives, and the richness of the questions involved can help young people maintain their awareness of the world as marvelous and mysterious.
Can you be brave if you’re afraid? Why do we “know better” and do things anyway? What makes a family? Philosophers have wrestled with such questions for centuries. They are also the stuff of playground debates. Ethics for the Very Young uses the perplexities of young children’s lives to spark philosophical dialogue. Its lessons scaffold discussion through executive function games (Telephone, Red Light Green Light), dialogic reading of picture books and Reggio Emilia’s art-based inquiry. In the process, children develop skills of dialogue and critical thinking through increased selective attention, self-control, cognitive flexibility and perspective taking. While the elements of this method are familiar, they are here fused into an organic whole grounded in the history of philosophy and defended by current work in developmental psychology. Building on Wartenberg’s Big Ideas for Little Kids, the present curriculum uses a series of 23 picture books to frame discussions of character, bravery, self-control, friendship, the greater good, respect and care. Its goal is not to “teach morals” but to help children articulate and develop their own perspectives through dialogue with each other. Each lesson presents teachers’ reflections on how this exploration of life's enduring questions transformed their school’s culture.
Which philosopher threw himself head first into a volcano to prove he was a god? Who formed a secret society and banned its members from eating beans? Is it true that one philosopher operated on his friend's liver and fitted it with a silver tap? Which philosopher insisted that his students sit in deckchairs? Why did another have to have a special niche cut into his table? Who was cut to pieces by sharpened seashells?
'This book aims high; its aspiration and rationale are to be welcomed and applauded....an original and valuable contribution to the literature of early childhood education' - Early Years '"Early Childhood Education" is an extremely valuable and informative book that emphasises the role of history and philosophy in current early childhood practices....this book is accessible, clearly structured and an essential reference for students of Childhood Studies. I would highly recommend this text as an introduction' - ESCalate 'This book makes a refreshing change to a lot of textbooks....It's easy to read, in short chunks, and you don't want to put it down. Well worth investing in this book. I would give this book 9 out of 10' - The National Childminding Association 'This book is an essential, informative read for practitioners and policymakers alike. It encourages reflection, prompts discussion and dialogue and facilitates the building of a common understanding through making us all aware of whose shoulders we are standing on' - Early Years Update 'Every Early Childhood practitioner and policy-maker should keep a copy of this book on their shelves...a thought provoking, and highly informative celebration of the ideas of our field's pioneers. If we are to understand ourselves and our times, and to provide lovingly meaningful experiences for today's young children, we need to understand their web of philosophical legacies and the links with our own' - Professor Tricia David, Emeritus Professor Canterbury Christ Church University and Honorary Emeritus Professor, University of Sheffield This book explores the ideas behind the policies and practices in Early Childhood Education to help give students and practitioners a fuller understanding of the settings in which they work. The authors bring together ideas from the work and writings of major historical figures who have significantly shaped Early Childhood current practices to illustrate the rich history of this ever developing field. Using imaginative tools to bring alive the ideas of past pioneers, the authors show how our understanding of contemporary issues has been influenced by the pioneers. The book also shows how today's practitioners themselves become the pioneers of future development. This book is for all students of Early Childhood Education including those on BA and MA courses, as well as Early Years trainee teachers. It is also relevant to practitioners involved in self - or organisational development.
This book allows philosophers, literary theorists, and education specialists to come together to offer a series of readings on works of children's literature. Each of their readings is focused on pairing a particular, popular picture book or a chapter book with philosophical texts or themes. The book has three sections--the first, on picturebooks; the second, on chapter books; and the third, on two sets of paired readings of two very popular picturebooks. By means of its three sections, the book sets forth as its goal to show how philosophy can be helpful in reappraising books aimed at children from early childhood on. Particularly in the third section, the book emphasizes how philosophy can help to multiply the type of interpretative stances that are possible when readers listen again to what they thought they knew so well. The kinds of questions this book raises are the following: How are children's books already anticipating or articulating philosophical problems and discussions? How does children's literature work by means of philosophical puzzles or language games? What do children's books reveal about the existential situation the child reader faces? In posing and answering these kinds of questions, the readings within the book thus intersect with recent, developing scholarship in children's literature studies as well as in the psychology and philosophy of childhood.
