And hadn’t we always done this in our childhood, spent hours slinging pebbles at the stars, knowing full well that, even before we fired them, the stones would fall right back and probably on our own heads?
Hisham Matar A Month in Siena (pp. 24-25)
I started holding half-hour philosophy club sessions to two of my friends’ kids during the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020 and over time more children have joined.
I found that kids are able to think about “proper” philosophy just as well as the young adults studying at university level (adjusted for life experience and maturity). They seem to enjoy it as well, which is wonderful: kids between 8 and 13 are quite interested in thinking through questions such as “what it’s like to a be a bat” too!
Philosophy is useful in teaching people of any age critical thinking skills and that asking the right question is often as hard (or harder!) than coming up with the right answer.
I hope to grow this page over time with the written material I sent around, collaborative projects with my young colleagues and other interesting stuff.
Useful Resources
Websites
Red T Media – free online philosophy resources for young philosophers (You tube kids, learning modules, apps) as well as books and apps to buy.
Teen Vogue – for teens. Articles on ethics and current affairs which are even used in university courses.
Books
David Edmond & Bertie Fraser:
Undercover Robot: My First Year As A Human
A novel aimed at children aged 9+ that covers a wide range of philosophical issues. My students have unanimously liked it.
DK: How Philosophy Works: Concepts Visually Explained, ed. M. Weeks
DK: The Philosophy Book
Accessible overviews of contemporary philosophy.
The Game of Logic by Lewis Carroll – an introductory book on philosophical logic for kids, written by the author of Alice in Wonderland. Free pdf download.