Cultivate your baby\’s thinking ability, starting from understanding the differences between Chinese and Western thinking modes

I remember a few years ago I saw a German illustrating the huge differences between China and the West. Blue represents the West and red represents China. Interpersonal relationships: The child’s status in the home: Ways of expressing opinions: This contrast is very interesting. Not all Western thinking models are more advanced than Chinese thinking, but Western children\’s logical and critical thinking abilities are indeed stronger from an early age. In addition to the practice they get in school, it is also related to the social environment. What differences between China and the West lead to differences in people’s thinking patterns? How do these differences in thinking affect children\’s thinking ability? Perhaps understanding these differences can help us target our babies\’ daily thinking training. Idols vs. Egos On the streets of New York, I often encounter rap artists who are engaged in performances. Even if the President of the United States passes by, they would not look at them. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are \”arrogant\”. A friend of mine was a top academic figure in China. He often scored full marks in mathematics, physics and chemistry, and also won Olympiad medals. He was the outstanding student in the school who attracted much attention. Teachers often used him as a standard to educate other children. He transferred to the United States during his sophomore year of high school and found that no one cared about his test scores. The \”influential figures\” in the school all have their own characteristics. They are either masters of the band, or athletes, or they have invented unparalleled black technology. What\’s more important is that many American students have not won any awards, but they have different interests and hobbies. They rarely \”think others are great\”, but think \”they are great\”. How to practice at home: Only when you recognize yourself can you have the courage to express your opinions. Every child is very different. Explore his or her shining points. Don’t envy “other people’s children” in front of your children. Let your children value their own value and uniqueness. Developing a strong self-awareness is very helpful for children\’s independent thinking ability. It allows children to realize that their own opinions are important and not to blindly worship authority. Straight lines vs. curves Chinese people speak more tactfully, while Westerners are more direct. For example, when a Chinese visitor to a neighbor\’s house is very thirsty but the neighbor doesn\’t give him water, he may say, \”It\’s very hot today,\” and let the neighbor figure it out. Americans are more likely to ask their neighbors for a glass of water directly without feeling embarrassed. This can also be seen in the differences between Chinese and English. Chinese writing often starts with giving examples and finally summarizes to prove one\’s point of view. However, in introductory English writing classes, it is emphasized that the point of view is stated at the beginning of each paragraph and then the reasons are stated. , the structure and purpose are very clear. How to practice at home: Chinese social culture emphasizes being humble when getting along with others, while Westerners tend to be more proactive and aggressive. Appropriate aggression is not a bad thing. Communicating with Westerners can sometimes make people feel uncomfortable, but over time you may find that this straight-line communication method is easier and will not make people confused. When communicating with your child, encourage him to express himself in clear, accurate, and concise language as much as possible. For specific methods, you can refer to my previous article: Learn to speak clearly. Your baby’s thinking ability will far exceed that of his peers after school. Logic vs. . Emotions Chinese people like to move people with their emotions, while Westerners like to move people with their emotions.People like to convince others with reason. There is nothing right or wrong about different cultures and values. Even the US presidential election speech uses both emotion and reason. However, because emotion has a lot of personal subjective color, it is difficult for everyone to agree in communication. Logic has its own universal truth. People with strong logical thinking will naturally be more convincing when speaking. The so-called thinking training is actually training the weaker link of ourselves so that we can be competent in both aspects. How to practice at home: A logic training method often used in American schools is to teach children to distinguish between facts and opinions, and to use facts to support opinions. For example: Milk is white, which is a fact, and I like to drink milk, which is an opinion. Many primary school teachers in the United States will make this kind of display board with their children to intuitively distinguish facts and opinions: Preschool babies can understand the difference between facts and opinions by reading picture books. For example, in the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the caterpillar ate a lot of fruits, sweets, and finally a leaf. After telling this picture book to two-year-old Su Bao, I will use magnets like this, or printed stickers. Let Su Bao first choose what she likes to eat (Viewpoint): Then let her put the caterpillar in the book Find out what she actually ate (fact): (In the first step, she actually chose to like fruits instead of sweets, which made me cry with joy~) We often use this method to exercise memory and make picture books more interesting. Tools of value. A two-year-old baby may not be able to clearly understand the purpose of this game, but I believe it can subtly give the baby a basic understanding of facts vs. opinions. In addition, it is strongly recommended that you choose some non-fiction picture books for your baby, such as encyclopedias, color books, and number awareness books. These picture books provide informational knowledge and can also accumulate children\’s knowledge of \”facts\”. Extended reading: Are there only storybooks on your baby’s bookshelf? Critical Thinking vs. Standard Answers In an American university, I realized that one of the biggest differences between China and the West is that traditional Chinese thinking likes to seek common ground, while Western culture likes to seek differences. In class, the teacher raised a topic for discussion. Most Chinese students did not like to speak because they were afraid of making the wrong mistake. They will take notes silently to avoid missing knowledge points. American students are good at critical thinking and like to put forward their own (especially different) opinions. Even if it is an immature theory, they can defend themselves with complete reason and confidence. Perhaps it is this mentality of seeking differences and the encouragement of critical thinking in the environment that can make seemingly weak ideas gradually grow and mature. How to practice at home: Encourage children to think of their own. Try not to use right and wrong to judge your child\’s understanding, but ask him why he thinks so. The most common method used in American schools to train children\’s critical thinking is to ask open-ended questions. The answer to fixed questions is usually yes or no, but there is no standard answer to open-ended questions, which can promote children\’s ability to think diversified. Open-ended questions often include the keywords what, what if, why, how. Here are some examples of open-ended questions: Tell me about what you saw. Describe what you saw. What if xxx happens? What happens if xxx happens? How did you know that? How did you come to this conclusion? Why did you choose A over B? Why did you choose A instead of B? Of course, these questions cannot be answered by babies of any age. I once wrote in detail in an article how to ask questions that are most suitable for babies based on their cognitive development progress. I believe that a person with strong thinking ability must have a very diverse cultural perspective. I hope that through this article, I can give you a new perspective on baby\’s thinking training and how our thinking patterns in daily life affect the formation of baby\’s thinking ability. Let’s break limitations together and move from singleness to abundance (full article ends).