is to encourage the next generation of Hongkongers to have enquiring minds and breadth in their education, to see learning as something that takes place everywhere, not just in the classroom and not just for the purpose of getting a good, well-paid job at the end. It has, however, been a controversial addit ion to the syl labus with many teachers and students worried that it is too vague and unquantifable an exam to be marked. Tutorial centres have seen a boom in the number of students coming to them for the “answers” to the papers – which defeats the very purpose of the curriculum! Perhaps the problem is that adding a brand new subject for the last three years of a student’s schooling is bound to be confusing for the majority of learners who have never been faced with this approach to thinking and schoolwork before. The development of critical faculties should happen throughout life, starting at a young age, by teaching children how to understand themselves, their relationships with other people and

their environment. Only then will students be able to cultivate and hone these skills as they get older so that thinking and analysing become second nature.

At our centre, we see a number of our primary age students lacking the ability to judge what they see or read. Many of our students are great technical readers but, on fnishing the story, will have no comprehension of what they have read. When asked, “Do you like this character?” many will look blank and respond: “What is the right answer?” Working with these children over time, we are able to tap into their natural curiosity about life and encourage them to think, question and argue in order to understand. Children should not see teachers and tutors as purely didactic fgures whose role is to tell them the right answer. The best teachers are those who are able to draw ideas out from the student’s own mind, to guide and instruct rather than to tell. But how can we encourage our children to think freely and develop questioning minds from a young age? Below are

a number of suggestions for activities to do at home with your children from pre-school age up until the end of primary school to help lay a foundation for learning how to learn.

Little learners

At pre-school age, children are at their most inquisitive and this should be encouraged in every way. Let them explore through all of their senses – touch, taste, sound, smell and sight – and encourage them to talk about what they are doing and how it makes them feel. Do they like the taste? If not, why not? What does that rug feel like? Have they ever felt anything similar? Does that smell good? Does it remind them of anything? Take your pre-schooler for a walk, pick up leaves and talk about them. Then take them home and draw them. Ask them to describe what they’ve drawn and how it makes them feel. Ask them why they think trees have leaves.

Read to your child every night and talk to them about the story as you are reading. Do they like the characters? What do they think will