TEACH YOUR CHILD HOW TO THINK

by Edward de Bono

"The relationship between intelligence and thinking is like that between a car and the driver of that car. A powerful car may be driven badly. A less powerful car may be driven well. The power of the car is the potential of the car just as intelligence is the potential of the mind. The skill of the car driver determines how the power of the car is used. The skill of the thinker determines how intelligence is used".

De Bono follows this statement in "Teach Your Child How to Think" with his definition of thinking which is:

"..the operating skill with which intelligence acts upon experience."

So you want to teach your child how to think. Well if you use this book to do that, you may well end up learning how to think yourself! Divided into five parts, the first part goes to great lengths to explain how to get the most out of the book. The remaining sections cover different thinking methods and techniques starting with de Bono's famous Six Thinking Hats that is now being used by progressive companies throughout the world.

This book has been written so that it can be used to teach children of any age. The thing I liked most about it was that each technique is treated in isolation from the others so that you do not need to plough through the book from start to finish to benefit. Techniques include:

APC - Alternatives, Possibilities, Choices,
OPV - Other People's Views and
AGO - Aims, Goals and Objectives.

I enjoyed reading this book for my own benefit because it gave me more options for my own thinking and opened up avenues of thought I had not previously explored. If you use it to teach your children how to think, they will learn to do so but I think that the biggest benefit you will get from it, is that you may well be speaking with your child for the very first time.

Teach Your Child How to Think (ISBN 0-572-01609-3) by Edward de Bono is published by Viking and is available from good bookstores at £7.99.

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