How do I know I’m not dreaming? How can numbers keep going on forever? Did God make time begin?

Kids ask questions that are often silly, sometimes annoying and occasionally profound. As parents, we aren’t always sure how seriously to take the questions or even how to answer them.

According to philosophers, teachers and psychologists, discussing these kinds of questions with your children is important to their development.

In fact, there is a growing movement to encourage philosophical discussion with pre-adolescent children, including children as young as 3 or 4. Several philosophers believe that Jean Piaget’s well-known theory of cognitive development, which says that children younger than 11 or 12 aren’t capable of analytic thought, is mistaken.

Philosophy 1.1
With a curriculum full of standardized tests and competing demands, schools may find it hard to address philosophical questions. But parents can read thought-provoking books to their children, and some schools do help children explore meaningful questions.

In the YMCA after-school program at Richmond City’s Fox Elementary, children can discuss life’s ethical and metaphysical questions with Virginia Commonwealth University philosophy undergraduates, who tell stories that children can talk about and relate to.

The college students are enrolled in an innovative service-learning course, “Philosophy for Children,” taught by Dr. Donald Smith. They study philosophical questions and discuss how to tailor often-complex issues to kids.

Surprising Discussions
The VCU students are often surprised by the ability of their young charges. Smith, who has two young children of his own, notes, “It’s actually easier for the students to have philosophical discussions with small kids than having them with adults.”

One of his colleagues, Mike Valdman, agrees. “Many of us have a deep need to understand our world,” says Valdman. “Little kids even more than adults are desperate to understand the world around them, and they are open to new possibilities.”

Thinking Skills
But as any philosophy major knows, discussing questions of ethics, personal identity and distributive justice does more than help us understand ourselves and our world. It also helps to develop critical thinking, a skill highly valued in the real world but sometimes neglected in a curriculum governed by SOLs.

“Studying philosophy is a practical, useful skill,” says Smith. “The sorts of intellectual moves that kids learn to make when they consider philosophical questions will sharpen their critical thinking skills.”

Theory and Practice
At Fox Elementary, kids discuss a different topic each week. One day, for example, VCU student Bryan Hollar led a discussion of the difference between minds and brains.

The kids, aged 6 to 12, offered theories: “The brain is the control center for the body,” said one girl. “Your mind controls your creativity,” said another.

Hollar later summarized the experience: “Kids blurt out things that surprise and excite me, like the girl who just said, ‘The brain is just a computer.’ Kids have intuitions about what’s correct, just as adults do.”

On another day, the undergraduates brought various candies to help students consider how a society can distribute resources fairly. The kids were asked how the candy should be given out. After much back and forth, they decided to take a vote and agreed to an equal distribution.

But a free market quickly formed, as the children determined certain candies were more valuable and began trades.

Children are acutely attuned to questions of fairness and value, and talking about these issues with the guiding presence of an adult can help them develop a sense of justice and “fair play.”

Curiosity is Calling
What can parents do to encourage deeper thinking in their children? Smith says that “the most important thing is to be willing to listen to them. You have to develop an ear for a philosophical question.”

Reading certain books with kids can help. Take, for example, the story of Pinocchio. According to Smith, this could lead to some provocative questions: How can Pinocchio talk if he’s just made of wood? What is a person? Does he have to be flesh and blood?

Some may think that these kinds of activities and discussions seem silly or frivolous. But if you consider that curiosity is the foundation for exploration and discovery, then their value becomes obvious.

“Children have a natural curiosity for understanding,” argues Smith, “but it can easily get stamped out if an adult tells a child that he shouldn’t ask certain questions or tells him that such curiosity is useless.”

Gayla Mills teaches English at Randolph-MaconCollege. She lives in Richmond with her husband, Gene, who is a philosophy professor at VCU.

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Exploring Philosophy with Your Child

These websites provide tools to begin discussing philosophical questions with children.

Philosophy for Children
mtholyoke.edu/omc/kidsphil/index.html

This site lists more than 40 children’s books with philosophical content and includes simple study guides and discussion questions for each. It offers clear directions and explanations and has convenient tabs for parents, educators and kids.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
plato.stanford.edu/entries/children

For people interested in a historical and theoretical discussion, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy answers such questions as, “Are children capable of philosophical thinking?” and “How can we teach philosophy in a crowded curriculum?” 
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