Philosophy for Children  Philosophy for Children, sometimes abbreviated to P4C, is a movement that aims to teach reasoning and argumentative skills to children. There are also related methods sometimes called ""Philosophy for Young People"" or ""Philosophy for Kids"". Often the hope is that this will be a key influential move towards a more democratic form of democracy. However, there is also a long tradition within higher education of developing alternative methods for teaching philosophy both in schools and colleges (see ""philosophy education""). Although the noted developmental psychologist Jean Piaget was of the impression that children were not capable of critical thinking until age 11 or 12, the experience of many philosophers and teachers with young children gives reason to believe that children benefit from philosophical inquiry even in early primary school. Furthermore, there is empirical evidence that teaching children reasoning skills early in life greatly improves other cognitive and academic skills and greatly assists learning in general. The pedagogy of philosophy for children is diverse. However, many practitioners including those working in the tradition of Matthew Lipman and the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children emphasize the use of a community of inquiry method which has roots in the work of philosopher John Dewey. The term "inquiry" is preferred to "lesson" because the emphasis is on the group inquiring together into questions with the teacher as a facilitator rather than the authoritative source of information. As a basis for discussing philosophy with children, the questions used (“What is friendship?”, “Do animals have feelings?”, and “What is happiness?”) are of crucial importance. The German educational scientist Michael Siegmund recommends asking children a philosophical question along with an inspiring picture. Together, the image and question create an opening for discussing philosophy. Among other things, natural landscapes, pictures of animals and people, certain social situations, or even fantasy pictures can be used. This dual method can be used as early as at daycare for children ages 4 and up, as well as at school or with family. Along with pictures, stories can also lead to discussions of philosophy with children. A story can thus be an occasion to start a philosophical conversation with children. Adults can ask the children philosophical questions while they are reading aloud as well. Stories, combined with profound questions, can inspire children and promote their creativity and imagination. Adults can either add “philosophical questions” to “classic” stories and fairy tales themselves, or use special children's books for discussing philosophy with children.