Teaching critical thinking in early childhood classrooms with The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Readilearn

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teaching critical thinking

Teaching critical thinking in early childhood classrooms is important. Discussions about The Very Hungry Caterpillar can help develop critical thinking

Continue reading: Teaching critical thinking in early childhood classrooms with The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Readilearn

19 thoughts on “Teaching critical thinking in early childhood classrooms with The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Readilearn”

  1. Steven

    While driving on the freeway today, I was reminded of your scientific fact versus fiction comments in a very unusual way. A large 4WD overtook me and it had one of those snorkels on it. It immediately reminded me of the movie Dante’s Peak, particularly the scene in which the lead character drives their vehicle into deep water causing the passenger concern. At that point, I think the lead character points to and says, “Snorkel” to calm the passenger. It made me wonder why the director would put that particular part into the film, for any other movie would have just had the vehicle plough through the water and keep going, all without any regard for the practicality of the situation. Was that the directors attempt to add some accuracy into the film? I couldn’t remember whether there was any gross scientific inaccuracy in the film, although Wikipedia hints it had ‘more’ scientific accuracy than another similar film. It all reminded me of your posts on The Hungry Caterpillar.

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    1. Norah Post author

      Hi Steven, I apologise for taking so long to respond to your lovely comment. I did read it when it came in but didn’t respond as I was away from the computer for a few days and just wouldn’t have been able to respond on the phone. I’m not so adept at that yet. 🙂
      I’m not sure if I’ve seen the movie Dante’s Peak, but you’ve set the scene up nicely. It’s an interesting point you ponder. Seems to me it would be meant to calm the passenger, but couldn’t be sure that it would have the effect, assuming the passenger knew the purpose of a truck’s snorkel – a bit different from one used in water!
      I’m pleased my fact versus fiction posts re The Hungry Caterpillar had an effect on you. Most others seem to brush the inaccuracy off as if it doesn’t matter. I recently bought my granddaughter a live butterfly kit for her birthday. We picked the caterpillars and kit up from the breeder’s home. One of the first things he said to the children was that “that book” got it wrong. They are not cocoons! He made a big thing of it, ensuring the children knew the correct terms and telling them to take no notice of “that book”. I can’t tell you how delighted I was. Particularly as my son (their father) was with us and heard it all. He’d questioned whether I wasn’t making a mountain out of a cocoon. Now he knows. They’ve all had a wonderful time watching the caterpillars grow through their successive moults and instars. Son even saw a couple pupate. The first have now emerged from their chrysalises as beautiful butterflies.
      Apologies for the long answer – you might wish I’d answered on the phone! 🙂

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  2. prior..

    We had many copies of this book over the years – well a few – and I think we had a hardcover with batteries and the last page lit up – anyhow – such an important post because critical thinking is crucial at any age a xxoo 🐛🐛🐛

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    1. Norah Post author

      Thanks, Yvette. I’m pleased you found the post valuable. It may have been the firefly book that lights up at the end. He has a cricket one that chirps too. They are fun.
      Thanks for adding the caterpillars. Cute!

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        1. Norah Post author

          Yes. I have quite a few of Eric Carle’s books too. They are beautiful works of art and so attractive to children in both words and pictures.
          You have a nice day too – and a lovely week. 🙂

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    1. Norah Post author

      Thank you for your encouragement, Patricia, and for trying to tweet. Great experiment with that title. I’ll know next time to make it shorter and not try to fit the whole blog post into the title. 🙂

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  6. ksbeth

    a great lesson to be taught at this young age, to help them grow up thinking and questioning their way through the world. i wondered about the cocoon bit myself…. i love knowing his reason

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