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Little Big Minds: Sharing Philosophy with Kids
A guide for parents and educators to sharing the enduring ideas of the biggest minds throughout the centuries—from Plato to Jane Addams—with the "littlest" minds.
Children are no strangers to cruelty and courage, to love and to loss, and in this unique book teacher and educational consultant Marietta McCarty reveals that they are, in fact, natural philosophers. Drawing on a program she has honed in schools around the country over the last fifteen years, Little Big Minds guides parents and educators in introducing philosophy to K-8 children in order to develop their critical thinking, deepen their appreciation for others, and brace them for the philosophical quandaries that lurk in all of our lives, young or old.
Arranged according to themes-including prejudice, compassion, and death-and featuring the work of philosophers from Plato and Socrates to the Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King Jr., this step-by-step guide to teaching kids how to think philosophically is full of excellent discussion questions, teaching tips, and group exercises.
Children are no strangers to cruelty and courage, to love and to loss, and in this unique book teacher and educational consultant Marietta McCarty reveals that they are, in fact, natural philosophers. Drawing on a program she has honed in schools around the country over the last fifteen years, Little Big Minds guides parents and educators in introducing philosophy to K-8 children in order to develop their critical thinking, deepen their appreciation for others, and brace them for the philosophical quandaries that lurk in all of our lives, young or old.
Arranged according to themes-including prejudice, compassion, and death-and featuring the work of philosophers from Plato and Socrates to the Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King Jr., this step-by-step guide to teaching kids how to think philosophically is full of excellent discussion questions, teaching tips, and group exercises.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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234 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 20, 2013
Little Big Minds is organized as a handbook for teaching philosophy to kids in a classroom setting. However, I find it extremely valuable even though I don't expect to ever find myself in that setting. I think many of the suggested questions will be good conversation-starters with my own kids, and the lists of resources in each chapter remind me of so many books and so much music I want to share with them. I think it might even be a good philosophy primer for people who don't really interact with kids at all.
abandoned
May 30, 2022I love the idea of this book. In my school days, I am certain would've loved McCarty's class.
Fortysomething Mom Me... well, I'm not the target audience. I love the concept, and also feel very unable to use this as a guide to philosophy with our son. Even in a full time homeschooling context.
Possibly someone with even a moderate background in philosophy would be fine with this book as their guide? The lesson plans are quite specific. But I don't have that, and am not going to anytime soon. I'm also in a one-on-one context, which I think changes the energy... reading together from another source will suit us better than my prepping and then telling.
But McCarty has absolutely inspired me to seek out a guide / book that's viable at my much, much lower level.
Fortysomething Mom Me... well, I'm not the target audience. I love the concept, and also feel very unable to use this as a guide to philosophy with our son. Even in a full time homeschooling context.
Possibly someone with even a moderate background in philosophy would be fine with this book as their guide? The lesson plans are quite specific. But I don't have that, and am not going to anytime soon. I'm also in a one-on-one context, which I think changes the energy... reading together from another source will suit us better than my prepping and then telling.
But McCarty has absolutely inspired me to seek out a guide / book that's viable at my much, much lower level.
January 11, 2012
Reading Philosophy Can Be Fun
April 15, 2008
Exposing the humor and leisure of thinking
By Allan Roy Andrews
At one time, I worked as a young, aspiring academic teaching psychology to students in a community college. While there, I offered a manuscript to a book salesman who took it to his editors for critique. My manuscript amounted to a prolegomenon to the study of psychology (of course, I avoided using the word prolegomenon because only philosophers, theologians and literary critics use such a term). I called my offering, Getting Psyched: An Introduction to the Introduction to Psychology. (Agents and publishers take note: I still have the manuscript tucked away somewhere in my garage.)
In my proposed little book, I argued that every psychologist begins the study of human behavior from a perspective that presupposes some view of humankind, a philosophical anthropology, if you will.
After his editors had a look at it, the salesman-friend came to me with the manuscript containing one word circled in red in several places by one of his editors. My book couldn’t sell, he told me in earnest seriousness, because I had used a word that self-respecting psychologists never use; the word was philosophy! Yes, those were the days in which psychology was dominated by behaviorists and multivariate statisticians who saw themselves as scientists laboring with difficulty to break away from the casual subjectivity of philosophy.
How I wish now I could have turned to my bookcase and pulled out one or all three of the books I’m about to describe. This incident, of course, preceded the phenomenon of the “For Dummies” series, though that genre of books doesn’t introduce any subject with the talent and verve contained in the books I’m urging upon my audience here.
Reading philosophy can be fun and of great value--even for psychologists and other overly serious thinkers.
To support this assertion, I suggest a perusal of three books, one more than a decade old and two others of more recent vintage. Even if one has never read another publication related to philosophy, one should take up these three books and read. They clearly demonstrate that one can be at ease while confronting the conundrums of human thought.
The oldest of the three is a book that masks as a novel. In Sophie’s World, published in 1994, author Jostein Gaarder, a Norwegian high-school teacher, set out to interest his children in philosophy and wound up writing a surprising international best-seller. Most critics have derided Gaarder’s fiction, but they’ve judged his exposition of philosophy from the Garden of Eden to the Big Bang theory of cosmology as first-class.
The sub-title of Gaarder’s book is “A novel about the history of philosophy,” and each narrative chapter interweaves a summary of an epoch in Western philosophical thought.
A colleague at my school confessed after reading Gaarder’s book that he understood Plato’s analogy of the cave for the first time, and a woman in a study group that I am a part of told us that she never read or understood philosophy at all until her husband introduced her to Sophie’s World.
The second of my triad of books is a non-fiction text aimed at teachers (and I mean authentic teachers, those who nurture pupils in grades 4-8). It is a volume for the philosophically challenged called Little Big Minds, a textbook of sorts for those who believe they’d like to share philosophy with children.
The author, educator and consultant Marietta McCarty, has been introducing philosophy to kids in elementary schools for more than 15 years. In her words, “kids are natural philosophers.” The sub-title of her book explains her conviction: “Sharing Philosophy with Kids.”
McCarty takes a topical approach—friendship, responsibility, happiness, justice, and so on through freedom and love—for 15 chapters. Each topical chapter focuses on a philosopher or pair of philosophers; e.g., Time: Augustine and Alan Watts. The exposition is followed with lesson ideas and discussion topics for presenting the topics and thinkers to young minds; i.e., to “Little Big Minds.”
Of course, one is guaranteed that by taking the plunge into a book aimed at teaching children one is bound to learn a great deal for oneself. I believe it was Gail Sheehy, the author of several popular psychology books in the late 1970s and early 1980s, who confessed that one of her secrets of doing research was to first visit a children’s library and find the wonderful books that aim at teaching difficult subjects to kids. Her point, of course, is that one can learn a lot from kids—or from teaching kids. McCarty would certainly concur.
My third recommendation is a joke book written by two New England students of philosophy (and graduates of Harvard’s philosophy program) who seem to have found their niche in humor. It comes from the best-seller lists of 2007; it is a tiny book called Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar. The title alone hints that philosophy and humor await anyone who delves into its pages.
Authors Tom Cathcart and Dan Klein clearly have recognized the affinities between college teachers of philosophy and stand-up comedians. It’s difficult at times to tell whether they have written an introduction to philosophy punctuated with jokes or a contemporary joke book interlaced with lessons from philosophy. Either way, one is treated to sane thinking and wry humor because the authors rightly recognize that philosophy and comedy both attempt to turn things upside down and challenge us with what is uncomfortable about life.
To be sure, many of the jokes are corny or bawdy or both, and much of the philosophy is secular and simplified, but both are presented in a relaxed and easy-to-take manner. Cathcart and Klein clearly not only want their readers to think, they want them to relax and smile while doing so.
The authors of each of the three books I’m suggesting to readers in their own way exhibit elements of leisure at the root of their writing. Gaarder in mystery and fantasy; McCarty in childishness and innocence; and Cathcart and Klein in humor and dilemma. They seem to grasp the true meaning of being at leisure and they recommend it. So I recommend them to anyone seeking to be at ease with the puzzlements of life.
Posted by Allan Roy Andrews
April 15, 2008
Exposing the humor and leisure of thinking
By Allan Roy Andrews
At one time, I worked as a young, aspiring academic teaching psychology to students in a community college. While there, I offered a manuscript to a book salesman who took it to his editors for critique. My manuscript amounted to a prolegomenon to the study of psychology (of course, I avoided using the word prolegomenon because only philosophers, theologians and literary critics use such a term). I called my offering, Getting Psyched: An Introduction to the Introduction to Psychology. (Agents and publishers take note: I still have the manuscript tucked away somewhere in my garage.)
In my proposed little book, I argued that every psychologist begins the study of human behavior from a perspective that presupposes some view of humankind, a philosophical anthropology, if you will.
After his editors had a look at it, the salesman-friend came to me with the manuscript containing one word circled in red in several places by one of his editors. My book couldn’t sell, he told me in earnest seriousness, because I had used a word that self-respecting psychologists never use; the word was philosophy! Yes, those were the days in which psychology was dominated by behaviorists and multivariate statisticians who saw themselves as scientists laboring with difficulty to break away from the casual subjectivity of philosophy.
How I wish now I could have turned to my bookcase and pulled out one or all three of the books I’m about to describe. This incident, of course, preceded the phenomenon of the “For Dummies” series, though that genre of books doesn’t introduce any subject with the talent and verve contained in the books I’m urging upon my audience here.
Reading philosophy can be fun and of great value--even for psychologists and other overly serious thinkers.
To support this assertion, I suggest a perusal of three books, one more than a decade old and two others of more recent vintage. Even if one has never read another publication related to philosophy, one should take up these three books and read. They clearly demonstrate that one can be at ease while confronting the conundrums of human thought.
The oldest of the three is a book that masks as a novel. In Sophie’s World, published in 1994, author Jostein Gaarder, a Norwegian high-school teacher, set out to interest his children in philosophy and wound up writing a surprising international best-seller. Most critics have derided Gaarder’s fiction, but they’ve judged his exposition of philosophy from the Garden of Eden to the Big Bang theory of cosmology as first-class.
The sub-title of Gaarder’s book is “A novel about the history of philosophy,” and each narrative chapter interweaves a summary of an epoch in Western philosophical thought.
A colleague at my school confessed after reading Gaarder’s book that he understood Plato’s analogy of the cave for the first time, and a woman in a study group that I am a part of told us that she never read or understood philosophy at all until her husband introduced her to Sophie’s World.
The second of my triad of books is a non-fiction text aimed at teachers (and I mean authentic teachers, those who nurture pupils in grades 4-8). It is a volume for the philosophically challenged called Little Big Minds, a textbook of sorts for those who believe they’d like to share philosophy with children.
The author, educator and consultant Marietta McCarty, has been introducing philosophy to kids in elementary schools for more than 15 years. In her words, “kids are natural philosophers.” The sub-title of her book explains her conviction: “Sharing Philosophy with Kids.”
McCarty takes a topical approach—friendship, responsibility, happiness, justice, and so on through freedom and love—for 15 chapters. Each topical chapter focuses on a philosopher or pair of philosophers; e.g., Time: Augustine and Alan Watts. The exposition is followed with lesson ideas and discussion topics for presenting the topics and thinkers to young minds; i.e., to “Little Big Minds.”
Of course, one is guaranteed that by taking the plunge into a book aimed at teaching children one is bound to learn a great deal for oneself. I believe it was Gail Sheehy, the author of several popular psychology books in the late 1970s and early 1980s, who confessed that one of her secrets of doing research was to first visit a children’s library and find the wonderful books that aim at teaching difficult subjects to kids. Her point, of course, is that one can learn a lot from kids—or from teaching kids. McCarty would certainly concur.
My third recommendation is a joke book written by two New England students of philosophy (and graduates of Harvard’s philosophy program) who seem to have found their niche in humor. It comes from the best-seller lists of 2007; it is a tiny book called Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar. The title alone hints that philosophy and humor await anyone who delves into its pages.
Authors Tom Cathcart and Dan Klein clearly have recognized the affinities between college teachers of philosophy and stand-up comedians. It’s difficult at times to tell whether they have written an introduction to philosophy punctuated with jokes or a contemporary joke book interlaced with lessons from philosophy. Either way, one is treated to sane thinking and wry humor because the authors rightly recognize that philosophy and comedy both attempt to turn things upside down and challenge us with what is uncomfortable about life.
To be sure, many of the jokes are corny or bawdy or both, and much of the philosophy is secular and simplified, but both are presented in a relaxed and easy-to-take manner. Cathcart and Klein clearly not only want their readers to think, they want them to relax and smile while doing so.
The authors of each of the three books I’m suggesting to readers in their own way exhibit elements of leisure at the root of their writing. Gaarder in mystery and fantasy; McCarty in childishness and innocence; and Cathcart and Klein in humor and dilemma. They seem to grasp the true meaning of being at leisure and they recommend it. So I recommend them to anyone seeking to be at ease with the puzzlements of life.
Posted by Allan Roy Andrews
January 25, 2022
I really struggled getting through this book. I don't know why. It had lots of salient features-- summaries of the thoughts of two philosphers on each topic, discussion questions, material suggestions, and brief summaries of children's ideas. If anything, it was too tidy. It felt too much like a teacher manual rather than an exploration.
January 4, 2016
Marietta McCarty takes challenging topics such as love, death, friendship, and justice, and gives advice on how to teach these topics to children. She includes great portions of literature, thoughtful conversation starters, and helpful guidelines on how to guide students into a love of thought. There are, however, two downsides to this book: first, its emphasis on the theory that truth is relative; and second, McCarty's sometimes oblivious remarks (such as (and I paraphrase) "Things aren't always how you'd expect. I've seen young children can speak about death with ease, while middle schoolers squirm when talking about friendship." She doesn't seem to realize that young children haven't experienced the pain of the death of a loved one, and therefore will have an easier time talking about it, while middle schoolers deal with a lot of "drama" relating to broken trusts and ruined friendships and will be uncomfortable sharing this in front of their peers). This book is best treated as a collection of resources--conversation starters, classic literature, and thoughtful topics--to be sifted through and used as is appropriate to your group.
Read
June 4, 2007I may not have any kids of my own, but I've been one before and remember something about what it's like. Little Big Minds made me want to go back and have the kind of teacher that Marietta McCarty is. She teaches children about "philosophy" and goes from Socrates to Buddha to modern day philosophers. She lays out the book (which are really her classes for the children) according to concepts such as Love, Courage, Death,Justice , God etc etc and describes how she teaches kids and what their questions and answers are. They are a natural at philosophy - and as they learn, I learned! A wonderful, joyous and thought provoking book, which helped my understand more much more about the wisdom of children, life and myself.
June 4, 2011
High expectations generally breed high results. Consider the phenomenal work of Rafe Esquith with his 5th graders in L.A. and now this little book about introducing philosophy to kids. The title is a little misleading, given that the course of instruction focuses primarily on moral philosophy, but the author does introduce Plato/Socrates and other standard philosophers. I would love to try the course on a group of inner-city 11th graders, particularly because it includes music as part of its approach. Highly recommended for anyone in the teaching field or those who want a simplified but modern approach to tough questions of moral philosophy.
February 4, 2012
I'm really excited about the prospect of sharing philosphy with children. Even though philosphy isn't my strongest subject I enjoyed reading the book and I am hoping to try out some of these lessons with my kindergarten and second grade students soon. The book was well written and provided good examples of activities you could use with kids. I also appreciated the author's effort to bring in culturally diverse philosphers and incorporate many learning styles.
July 24, 2013
I never read this book cover to cover, but I read many sections of it and used it more as a resource. It has lots of interesting ideas for talking about philosophical ideas with elementary students. I've never taught one of the lessons/activities straight from the book, but I think I've incorporated a lot of its bits and pieces in the past two years.
June 14, 2013
For any thinking person, this book hits all the high-points of philosophy. Major philosophers are brought into the discussion along with good questions to ponder. Adults, teachers, kids, families could all have a copy at the dinner table; wouldn't that make for interesting conversation? I'm a better person for reading it.
Read
November 30, 2008My daughter's school is using this as a curriculum guide so I felt compelled to read it. Some interesting tips and suggestions for teaching young minds about philosophy or for having deeper discussions with them about certain topics - e.g. death, happiness, friendship, etc.
May 27, 2012
This book of basic K-12 lesson plans unfortunately does not lend itself to the American public school education system. Full of ideas that students would love to discuss, it would be better suited for a Montessori or other alternative education classroom.
September 18, 2015
Didn't actually finish the book. While the concept of child philosophers was interesting, enlightening, and even cute, I just got bored of it and had to put it down. Maybe I'll come back to it another day...
August 18, 2013
I'll have to come back to this - I started it thinking it would present good ideas to use with my daughter, but a) she's still too young and b) the book and writing style really didn't hold my interest. Maybe when she's older I'll revisit it.
August 1, 2016
I may come back to this book at some point. It's less about why to share philosophy with kids, or how to do so with any kid at any point, but about sharing philosophy with kids in a group or class setting.
Read
May 5, 2016This was recommended to me by a fellow-homeschooler I respect as a wonderful intro to teaching philosophy to children. Can't wait to dig in.
April 20, 2008
Haven't read this whole book yet, but it is cool. It will be better when the kids are older.
August 4, 2008
i read this book after listening to the author on NPR. It sounded so interesting but it was really meant for teachers as a tool for the classroom.
August 20, 2008
Just took a workshop with the author of this book. It was great and so is she. Philosophy is the art of thinking clearly, a talent we should all cultivate.
May 12, 2010
I'll keep you posted....so far loving it....lots of ideas...
November 7, 2014
This is a wonderful book that taps into the innate brilliance of kids.
Read
April 7, 2011Great book... going to put it to good use.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews