If children’s parents think critically/outside the box, there is a high probability their children will naturally learn this through life. I strongly disagree with the notion that children/school aged children are successfully learning critical thinking skills in the classroom. As small business owners, the greatest weakness we have noticed in our employees/interns from all walks of life/all ages of life is their lack of higher level thinking. They literally do not know how to solve problems. They generally give up quickly and want us to solve any problem they encounter. This may be a combo of lack of motivation/work ethic and difficulty problem solving. I went through the traditional American education system and the only class where I ever learned about critical thinking, directly or indirectly, was the logics class I took my freshman year in college. My husband has his doctorate within the medical field and unfortunately, many of his peers lack higher level thinking skills as well. So it doesn’t even matter what level of education you have. I think individuals who are naturally independent thinkers, who see problems and want to seek solutions, who are life long learners, are going to be the ones who have the greatest ability to think outside the box. I think a lot of this may be innate for many people, but surely learned for the rest.