Award-winning professor and author Wassermann has spent her career educating teachers. In this book, she shares her wealth of knowledge with parents and caregivers, explaining the importance of children developing higher-level cognitive thinking skills. She understands that parents are their children’s best teachers, and writes, “As parents would contribute to improving children’s reading abilities, so they might consider aiding and abetting what teachers do in classrooms to further children’s intelligent habits of mind.” Opening Minds walks caregivers through thirteen “thinking operations” and provides them with engaging activities for pre- and emerging readers as well as middle-grade students. With Wasserman’s accessible ideas, children can practice higher-level cognitive skills from observing, comparing, classifying, and imagining to hypothesizing, summarizing, interpreting, and problem-solving after simple preparation and guidance from an adult at home. This incredibly useful guide for parents provides essential critical thinking practice to help kids successfully navigate today’s everchanging and challenging world.
