P4C, or Philosophy for Children, is an approach to learning and teaching which enhances children’s thinking and communication skills, boosts their self-esteem, and improves their academic attainment.
It was established over forty years ago by Professor Matthew Lipman of Montclair State University in the United States and is now practised around the world.
In P4C, a stimulus, such as a story, video clip or image, is shared with a group of children. The children are encouraged by a trained facilitator, such as a teacher, to come up with the kind of big, engaging philosophical questions about the stimulus which are at the heart of P4C.
‘Thinking Thursday’ is part of EYFS’s commitment to P4C. Every Thursday, in addition to their usual P4C lessons, the children are given a question to think about. This could be a ‘would you rather question.. ‘ or a statement which they have decide is a good or bad idea and justify their reasons for this. The statement or question is firstly discussed in class, then placed on a white board in the classroom, where children write their names in the answer column that applies to them. At the end of the day, we revisit the question again.
This Week’s Question:
Would you rather have a packed lunch or a school dinner?
If your child has special dietary needs, packed lunches are a good option, though most schools can and do adapt their menus. Making up a packed lunch every day, especially if you have more than one child at school, is time-consuming. It can be hard to think of something nutritional and varied to put in a lunchbox every day where as school dinners are pre-planned, varied, and nutritional offering a balanced varied meal daily.
