Teach Your Child How to Think [Paperback]

Edward de Bono (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1994

"A practical handbook for parents to use in training their children (ages nine and up) in effective thinking, although adults will surely benefit from the concepts as well."—Library Journal.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Some parents may be confused by this busy primer, while others will agree with the author's premise that creative thinking skills can be directly taught. De Bono, a business and educational consultant, asserts that this manual is equally applicable to teaching children or senior executives. Crammed with exercises, games and diagrams, the book stresses that thinking involves "operacy"--the skills of doing or making things happen--as well as devising mental patterns more effective than the mind's routine habits. De Bono ( I Am Right You Are Wrong ) takes a no-nonsense approach, pointing out that much thinking is inefficient and that many highly intelligent people are not good thinkers. He urges the use of speculation, hypotheses, provocation and other techniques as a way to get out of mental ruts and generate ideas.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (July 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140238301
• ISBN-13: 978-0140238303
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,517 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #85 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Reference

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile as a practical guide, September 8, 2003

By 

Gene Zafrin (Sleepy Hollow, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Teach Your Child How to Think (Paperback)

This is a how-to manual on thinking. The main emphasis is on habits of a good thinker, such as focus and purpose, and specific thinking tools, such as the "Plus, Minus and Interesting" technique. The book enumerates many specific methods of effective thinking and suggests exercises to practice each of them.

First some Critical Thinking (a valid, but inferior activity, according to the author). In spite of the cerebral subject, some statements sound decidedly lowbrow. Intellectualism is put down as an overly complex and non-creative activity. For a purportedly successful methodology that has been around for 20 years (at the time of the book's publishing), the absence of scientific proof that the theory works is surprising: only one study with a concrete result is mentioned. One stumbles over some inconsistencies: on p. 11 critical thinking is said not to have high value in today's society, but on the next page it is claimed to be important. Terms such as "mathematical necessity of creativity" betray the author's careless use of language ("mathematical" is out of place here).

The title is vague. 30 pages into the book one learns that the methods presented are generally applicable to children older than 9. This information should have been present in the cover notes or in the editorial reviews. The boy on the book's cover looks like a 5-year-old. The section on which methods to teach at which age should be in the back, since the special terms and abbreviations, mentioned before they are explained, do not make sense. The cover note claim that the book helps kids "to make today's life-and-death choices" seems rather heavy-handed.

The author does not suffer from modesty: "unlike many people in this field, Dr. de Bono is an original thinker". The book is rather dry, and it is especially unfortunate since the author would like children to be among the readers.

Developing educational tools for thinking echoes works of other writers (Rita Levi Montalcini, a 1986 Nobel winner in medicine, is one). Still, the author does not refer to anybody else's research on the topic, nor is there a list of literature.

The main strengths of the book are its practicality and optimism. The tools are simple to use and the exercises on each technique are engaging. Refreshing is the belief that everybody can be taught to become a thinker.

By far the most interesting and original part of the book is on teaching creativity by means of provocation and Random Word technique. Both tools are designed to bring one to a dramatically new view on the problem and to a solution that may be called "creative". Other techniques, such as "Consider All Factors" or "Outcome and Conclusion", might seem self-evident, but practicing them with children seems a worthwhile exercise.

To summarize, most shortcomings of the book seem overall insignificant, whereas the core is healthy. I would recommend the book to those who are prepared to practice or teach thinking techniques.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Creative thinking for parents and kids, January 18, 2008

By 

Mr. Sakari M. Mattila (ACT, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teach Your Child How to Think (Paperback)

Teach Your Child How to Think

Most young kids are creative but disorganized thinkers. This book is parents' book to guide the child to think creatively and at the same time be well organized, also as a member of a group of people. The book is good summary of several de Bono's thinking methods and guide how to transfer these skills to other people. De Bono is outside of the envelope, his methods are widely used and work well, but do not form any established academic model. Some people consider de Bono non-scientific, because he mostly refers his own work and not that much other learned papers. In spite of not being a psychologist, I see many connections between his work and cognitive psychology and social dynamics. My opinion is, that this book suits as a summary of de Bono's methods, practical guide for parents informally teaching a small group of children, and maybe as a teachers' book for collaborative work from five year olds up to university level, with additional material to suit the students. Please remember, there is no fast track to creative thinking, it takes time.

(The reviewer holds B.Sc in science and M.Sc in software engineering)

21 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Buy one get all from Edward, February 7, 2001

By 

"tanghung" (Hong Kong Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teach Your Child How to Think (Paperback)

If you are new to Edward, this book is good for you. You can read just one book and get many other books written by Edward. Since this book summarize many other books.

But if you want to teach your child after reading this book, you may find that it is not so easy to apply the theory to your child.

However, I learn quite a lot of thinking method from this book.

Thanks!