Quirky Questions that engage Kids in thinking: the sure way to Prepare Kids To Succeed In The 21^st Century

 By Mary Ann Carr

Many parents today are unhappy with public education and with good reason.  Under the No Child Left Behind Act, high-level thinking skills have taken a back seat to the memorization of facts.  At the same time, CEO’s want employees with problem solving, analytical and creative thinking skills.  This disparity makes it obvious our educational system is not preparing children for the 21^st century workplace.  What can concerned parents do?

Quirky Questions is a practical guide to help parents extend their children’s learning beyond the classroom.  Filled with a variety of tools focused on high-level thinking, creative thinking and problem solving, the toolkit enables parents to help their children develop the skills necessary for success.  Designed for the busy parent, all of the tools are easy to use and are appropriate for grades K – 8. 

Some of the tools take the form of questions, based on the premise that questions open doors while answers close them.  These questioning tools are generic and are applicable to any topic of interest to children.  The toolkit also includes activities and ideas that parents can use to assist their children with school projects and homework assignments, and to stretch their children’s thinking during leisure time at home and in a variety of settings such as the car, waiting rooms and restaurants.

Parents who home-school their children are another audience for the book.  Its questions, activities and teaching guides would definitely enhance their curriculum.

Parents that use Quirky Questions will be equipped:

• to define and elicit different levels of thinking skills, using the toolkit’s questions;
• to encourage their children to read and discuss books, using the generic questions and activities in the toolkit designed for in-depth analysis of literature;
• to expand their children’s vocabulary, using creative activities for vocabulary development presented in the toolkit;
• to help their children develop thinking skills essential to each step of the writing process, using the toolkit’s guides for mini-lessons, graphic organizers and writing prompts;
• to guide their children when reviewing for tests or working on homework assignments and school projects, using the “Ask, Don’t Tell” tools, which provide questions parents can ask instead of telling their children the answers.
• to create home learning centers, using the toolkit’s step-by-step guides;
• to challenge their children at home, on family outings, and during summer vacation, using activities that require them to think analytically, critically and creatively about a variety of topics;
• to guide their children to make observations about their own self-control, self-discipline, self-confidence, self-reliance, self-esteem and self-efficacy (the six-selves), using questions in the toolkit which lead them to consider the effect of the selves on their learning and achievement.

Quirky Questions: Annotated Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE:  REACHING THE TOP FLOOR

Questions to challenge your children to become “power” thinkers 

In order to be effective helping their children develop high-order thinking skills, parents need to understand what these skills are.  This chapter defines the different levels of thinking and identifies questions that elicit each one.  Using these generic questions, parents can lead their children to the top floor, the highest level of thinking, enabling them to dig deeper into any topic they’re studying.

CHAPTER TWO:  A STORY IS MORE THAN WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN AND WHY

Tools to challenge your children to dissect stories and novels for in-depth understanding

Children who grow up in “library” homes become excellent readers.  Focusing on literature, this chapter features a parent’s guide to promote reading at home.  It includes questions for book discussions, reading activities challenging children to explore a story beyond the ‘who, what, where when and why,” and activities to expand their vocabulary.

CHAPTER THREE:  THINKING ON PAPER

Tools to guide your children to think on paper and become super writers

Writing is actually thinking on paper.  Based on this premise, this chapter provides activities and mini-lessons parents can use to help their children develop the thinking skills critical to each step of the writing process.  It includes a guide to set up a “writing center” at home.

CHAPTER FOUR:  ASK, DON’T TELL

A guide to help you help your children with school projects

This chapter focuses on school projects and student research.  Using the “Ask, Don’t Tell” approach, it guides parents to help their children complete projects without telling them what to do or doing it for them.  The chapter includes a student guide for independent research and a tool to create rubrics children can use to evaluate their own products.  

CHAPTER FIVE:  WHAT’S A BETTER TOOTHBRUSH?

Tools to help your children scramble out of the box into creative thinking

In the 21^st century, creative thinkers and problem solvers will be the ones who find success in the global marketplace.  Yet, in this era of high-stakes testing, schools have shelved creativity, considering it “fluff.”  This chapter provides a guide to help parents develop their children’s creativity and problem solving skills. 

The guide identifies four skills associated with creative thinking and includes questions designed to develop each one.  In addition, parents are introduced to SCAMPER, a strategy for creative thinking, and are given ideas how to use it with their children.   The chapter also includes a guide for creative problem solving and a guide for setting up creative learning centers at home

CHAPTER SIX:  EXPLORATIONS WHEN THERE’S NOTHING ELSE TO DO

Tools to challenge your children to investigate the world on everyday excursions, family vacations, and on summer days

Once parents are acquainted with questions and strategies that elicit high-order thinking, they can utilize many opportunities to exercise their children’s brain cells.  In fact, asking great questions can become a habit and something parents can do in a variety of settings. 

People typically consider time spent in the car or in a waiting room a waste of time.  This chapter guides parents to use this time productively.  The chapter provides questions that challenge their children to think.  It also includes a summer activity kit to involve children in high-order thinking during summer vacation.

CHAPTER SEVEN:  TIME TRAVEL

Tools to motivate your children to explore the mysteries of the past

Most children love the idea of time travel but do not like to study history in school.  This chapter was designed to motivate children to explore the past.  It provides lists of activities children can do at home to bring the content they’re studying in their classroom alive or to investigate a particular time in history of special interest to them.  And it includes activities focusing on family history. 

CHAPTER EIGHT:  THE FIVE SELVES

A guide to help you help your children develop the five selves: self-control, self-discipline, self-confidence, self-esteem and self-efficacy

In working with their children on school projects and various learning activities, it is essential for parents to be aware not only of their children’s mind but also the six “selves:  self-control, self-discipline, self-confidence, self-reliance, self-esteem, and self-efficacy.  Like the pieces of a puzzle, all of these “selves” fit together to make the whole child. 

This chapter contains groups of questions parents can use to guide their children to think about the work they are doing (activities, assignments, projects) in terms of these six “selves.”  The questions focus on their task; how they feel about doing it; problems they encounter; and their reaction to their final product.

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Quirky Questions: How to Order

To purchase a copy of Quirky Questions ( $10) for download, complete and submit the form below and instructions will be e-mailed to you. Once payment has been received, a second e-mail will be issued with the Password you'll need to download and print the document (NOTE: Refunds honored within 10 days if not satisfied; Viewing the document requires free Adobe reader version 5 or above).

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