Thinking About “Thinking” Can Build Valuable Self-Awareness Skills in Kids by Pepi Silverman

With a new school year approaching, helping children to connect to their own thought processes builds their abilities to know themselves as both individuals and learners. As an internal process, thinking can be hard for children to comprehend because it is not observable, but parents can help by modeling their own thought processes by talking aloud about “how” they process their ideas. Through modeling, role-playing games and encouraging open dialogue with your children they can achieve abilities that will help them to:

• Recognize their own strengths and weaknesses 
• Understand and talk about their feelings 
• Identify other people’s feelings 
• See how their behavior impacts others

By developing an understanding of their thinking, kids can apply that self-awareness to their approach to learning, which will support future academic success.