Welcome to p4c.com

P4C.COM IS a co-operative providing resources and advice on philosophy for children mainly to teachers who already know something about it through courses or reading and are looking for further advice and resources. To see some of the things we offer, see the links below and look at our 'samples' page. We have recently started a free parents' section with some ideas for philosophizing with children outside of school.

The basics of philosophy for children are straightforward. Children, or older students, share some reading, listening or viewing with their teacher. The children take some thinking time to devise their own questions. They choose a question that interests them and, with the teacher's help, discuss it together. The teacher is concerned with getting children to welcome the diversity of each others' initial views and to use those as the start of a process of that involves the children questioning assumptions, developing opinions with supporting reasons, analysing significant concepts and generally applying the best reasoning and judgement they are capable of to the question they have chosen.

In the longer term, the teacher aims to build the children's skills and concepts through appropriate follow-up activities, thinking games and the orchestration of connections between philosophical discussions, life and the rest of the school curriculum.

Over 400 resources. P4C.com has a growing library of over 400 resources contributed by our contributors. If you have an issue you want to explore using P4C, you can search by theme. Here's are some resources on work, for example: a retelling of an Aesop fable, a version of the Ant and Grasshopper with alternative endings by Michelle Whitworth. Here is a 'Guide for using fables'

Something for all age ranges. Training courses usually have to cover a wide range of ages, which can leave you wondering how to apply the methods to your own class. You can find resources specific to the age range you teach. Here are some resources for early years. Nursery Question Board | Would you prefer | The Important Book

Online compilation journal. We are supporting co-operation on the development of the theory and practice world-wide by selecting articles from the main P4C journals over the last 20 year to innovative compilation resource. It is open to all in our public area. READ MORE.

I need something for this afternoon! Lots of resources are provided in print and go formats ready to use with a class, as here with Sports Day in the Jungle by Libby Ahluwalia. There are also recommendations for resources available elsewhere, and advice on how to use them most effectively. Here are some activities on a popular picture book -- The story of Little Mole -- and a selection of pages from our recommended list of picture books.

E-Books. As well as providing a set of individual resources that are searchable on concept themes and age groups, we are making E-books available that offer coherent collections of ideas, tips and resources. We'll also be adding some web e-books -- works in progress, sometimes including video and audio. >> SEE SAMPLE PAGES from 'The Philosophy Club'

The IAPC is the home of Matthew Lipman's original P4C programme. Lipman wrote philosophical novels supported by hundreds of short activities to explore concepts and develop the language of reasoning. A growing selection of those activities is now available to p4c.com subscribers. Here are two example: The Land of I Suppose and Good Reasons

Am I doing it right? In the absence of tests and a curriculum to cover, it can be hard for P4Cers to answer questions like: 'Are they making progress?' Resources such as Expectations of P4C Skills at Foundation Stage help with planning and evaluation. New material on evaluation for all age groups is on the way.

What can I do about the child who always/never… Particular groups and individuals present particular issues. There are strategies for getting more children involved, for dealing with disruptive behaviour and for helping groups to be more flexible about seeing other points of view. See The Believing and Doubting game and Panel Discussions

How can I fit in P4C when there’s so much else to do? P4C often has to 'earn its keep' in a crowded curriculum by integrating into existing subject areas. There are suggestions for how P4C can address strands such as 'Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning' (see Good to Be Me by Roger Sutcliffe) Or how P4C can enhance and be enhanced by writing (see part 1 of 4 of Thinking and Writing by Steve Williams.

I want to create my own resources, not just use other people’s One of the aims of p4c.com is to help teachers develop their own resources - and indeed to become contributors to the site! Key documents about constructing 'Concept Stretchers' 'show the working' behind many of the resources for exploring concepts.

What can I do to really make them think? Extending critical thinking skills is a key attraction of P4C. But it can be difficult to achieve that simply by a sequence of inquiries. There's a whole section on Inquiry Builders, easy-to-use activities and ideas for developing essential skills. They can be used as starters, dialogue breakout activities and follow-ups. See 'All, some and none' for an example including audio from a class of four and five year olds.

How much? Get access to all this for £35 for a full year. Whatever time of year you join, your membership lasts for a full twelve months. If you want to have additional logins, each with its own profile and 'briefcase' facility to store favourite resources, there's a substantial discount for group memberships. You can pay by paypal or by invoice. >> HOW TO SUBSCRIBE

Why shouldn't I just find free stuff? Of course, there are lots of free resources scattered around the web. But there is nowhere where such a wealth of material is available in one place, thoughtfully selected, edited and organised to help make your philosophy for children as rich and stimulating as possible. If what you want isn't on the site, ask in the forums - some of the contributors are always looking for new things to write about. >> CLICK HERE to see more samples.

Non-profit cooperative P4C.com is a non-profit cooperative. Subscriptions fund the maintenance and editing of the site and 20% of all income is shared between the contributors according to how much content they have contributed. It's not a way for anyone to get rich, but it does provide a thank you to those who take the time to share their practice with others. It fits with the collaborative ethos of the community of enquiry. >>READ MORE