weekly
Philosophy for Children - Logic: Critical Thinking and Wondering About the World
Completed by 115 learners
Ages 8-9
Live Group Class
Live video meetings
1x per week
1-6 learners per class
50 min
What's included
1 live meeting
50 mins in-class hours per weekClass Experience
US Grade 3 - 4
➖ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗽𝗵𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱? ➖ Philosophy helps build critical thinking, problem-solving, and reasoning skills in a fun, interactive way. In a world of instant information, it encourages kids to slow down, ask "why," and dig deeper into the world around them. They’ll learn to question, explore new perspectives, and develop independent thinking. Through engaging Socratic discussions, children practice articulating their ideas, listening to others, and responding thoughtfully—valuable skills that will help them excel in school and beyond. ➖ 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 ➖ Children are natural-born philosophers, constantly asking thoughtful questions about the world—why the sky is blue, what fairness means, or how we know what’s real. In this class, their curiosity is celebrated and encouraged, providing a safe and supportive space to think deeply, ask questions, and share ideas. Through interactive discussions, kids will build critical thinking skills while having fun and exploring big ideas with their peers. Help your child grow their confidence and love of learning! In this class, kids aren’t just sitting back and listening—they’re actively involved in learning through discussion. We use the 𝙎𝙤𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙈𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙙, where we create a circle of inquiry and dive into big questions together. The teacher encourages students to question things, challenge assumptions, and explore different viewpoints without fear of judgment. Through open-ended questions and dialogue, learners start to think about how they think—a skill they can use in all areas of life. The topics we cover are thought-provoking and touch on deeper ideas like reality, courage, truth, and friendship. These conversations help students better understand the world and figure out their own values and beliefs. In a supportive and inclusive environment, they get the chance to think critically, share their opinions, and grow more confident in their ideas. This approach empowers them to be confident thinkers and communicators. Join me on a journey of wonder and exploration as we delve into the philosophical world in Matthew Lipman's book 𝘒𝘪𝘰 & 𝘎𝘶𝘴. The teacher will share the relevant sections as PDFs during class, and we’ll explore big ideas together. 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝙆𝙞𝙤 & 𝙂𝙪𝙨: Kio visits his grandparents’ farm and becomes friendly with Gus, who lives with her family not far away. Each chapter presents different situations such as Kio's grandfather telling him about his encounter with a whale when he was a sailor. This book consists of conversations between Kio and Gus as they explore the nature of animals, people and things in the world. The maximum number of learners in class will be 6. This ensures that all learners have the opportunity to share their thoughts with their peers. 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀: Introductions/Warm up questions, such as: Think of something you are glad happened. Can you be happy and sad at the same time? Think a funny thought. Round table discussion of the philosophical concepts facilitated by the teacher. Wrap up/Goodbye Please note that the below listed months are a guideline. The study of philosophy is a spiral where the concepts are covered multiple times and in multiple ways throughout the classes. Even when not specifically listed the topics are being covered each month. There are multiple groups with varying start dates. Due to multiple active groups and amount of student driven discussion and engagement, not all groups are on the same topic. If you are looking to join in at a specific topic of discussion, please send me a message so I can let you know which group will best meet your needs. Thank you for your understanding. 𝗧𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵: 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆: •Exploring hypotheses: "Can you be afraid of nothing?" • Understanding children-animal relationships and animal intelligence. • Taking turns, intentions, imagining, cause & effect, and inferring. 𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆: • Delving into metaphors and figures of speech: "Is it possible?" • Examining quantity vs. quality, making a difference, inferring, persuasion, and memory. 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵: • Analyzing ethical dilemmas: "Do animals have rights?" and "Might makes right?" • Developing arguments, justifying actions, logical fallacies, family dynamics, and imagination. 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹: • Investigating homonyms, saying vs. speaking, trust, believing, and exploration. 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲: • Distinguishing real vs. fake, decision-making, analogies, and descriptive reasoning. 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆: • Examining mental acts: wondering, knowing, and understanding. • Exploring concepts of beauty, fairness, and the line between pretending and reality. 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁: • Defining truth, reality, and simplicity. • Engaging in hypothetical and analogical reasoning. 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: • Comparing believing vs. knowing, and discussing truth, goodness, and the "best." • Analogical reasoning and understanding perception. 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿: • Investigating origins and causation: "Why do things happen the way they do? • Analyzing intentions and contrasting farm life vs. life at sea. 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: • Exploring abstract ideas: "Are numbers real?" and "Do things have names? • Discussing minds, communication, guessing, and understanding relationships. 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: • Reflecting on idioms, puzzling questions, trust, thinking, and the concept of existence. 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲: Topics rotate back to the beginning once the final theme is completed, ensuring continued engagement and learning. The methodology of this course is based upon the teachings of Matthew Lipman. 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆: I follow Outschool's policy on refunds for ongoing classes: Parents enrolled in an ongoing class will see a “stop subscription” button instead of “withdraw” on the classroom page after the class’s first meeting. Use this button to prevent any future weekly charges, starting with the following billing period, which rolls over Sunday mornings Pacific time. You can use this to stop future charges at any time. There will be no refunds issued for a student(s) missing class. 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆: If your learner misses a class meeting, you are not entitled to a refund. If your learner misses 3 consecutive class live meetings without communicating with the teacher, you forfeit the class fee and the teacher may cancel the class or withdraw your learner.” 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆: Please note that per Outschool policy, if there are 0 students after the first 10 minutes of the class, the class will be canceled for that day. The live meetings are scheduled for 50 minutes; however, depending upon the number of students and the amount of participation from the class, some live meetings may be shorter than 50 minutes. If the teacher needs to cancel class a makeup class will be assigned. If the student is unable to attend the makeup class a refund will be issued after the makeup class. 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆: When you enroll your child in my classes, you are paying for a live, interactive group learning experience. To maintain the integrity of this format, I do not release recordings of my live classes. The decision not to share recordings is to protect the safety and privacy of all learners. Many families prefer that recordings of their children not be made available to others, and I fully respect and prioritize that preference. Additionally, this policy helps safeguard my intellectual property, as the lessons I teach are original content I have personally developed. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for educational materials to be misused or copied without permission. Thank you for your understanding and support in creating a safe and respectful learning environment.
Learning Goals
The following reasoning skills will be developed:
Deductive, inductive, sequential, and analogical reasoning,
drawing inferences, coming to conclusions, use of evidence, focused inquiry, making sense of phenomena, and being able to see the "big picture".
Other Details
Parental Guidance
Philosophy by its very nature raises questions. This course will challenge the students to question everything they think they know. This can lead to uncomfortable conversations within a family structure.
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Sources
The Book Kio & Gus by Matt Lipman. Teacher will provide pdfs of relevant chapters.
Meet the teacher
Teacher expertise and credentials
Bachelor's Degree in Music or Theatre or Arts from The School of Visual Arts
I have been a student of philosophy for most of my life. I studied for 4 years with a student of Matthew Lipman whose teachings this class is based on. I have taught philosophy for children for over 10 years with local homeschool groups.
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