Philosophy Sucks . . . Kids Right In!

Book excerpt: Philosophizing — considering life questions — stimulates thinking: processing information, reasoning, thinking creatively, evaluating alternatives. Many children are natural philosophers. They observe the world around them from a young age, have a keen sense of right and wrong, and ask endless questions. Stories — fables, fairy tales, parables — are a classic device for teaching lessons about life, morality, chance, consequences, and other cultures to audiences both young and old. Philosophy Sucks...Kids Right In! is a guide that parents and educators can use to structure and guide this process. Contributors Nel de Theije and Leo Kaniok have collected 40 short stories that encourage children to ponder the themes of happiness, love, friendship, peace, freedom, respect and equality — and more. An introductory chart clearly lays out the age groupings the stories are appropriate for, a primary theme, possible secondary themes, and the teaching purpose of the story. Many stories come with discussion papers that suggest areas of exploration with children of different age groups (4-6, 6-8, 8-10 and 10-12) and grades. The open-ended questions stimulate children to experience the stories more intensely, encourage self-reflection, and seek their own answers to the big questions of life.