Solvly Glossary: Thinking Skills for Children, Explained
A plain-language glossary of the thinking and emotional skills that shape a child's future — defined simply, for parents. Each term below explains what the skill is, why it matters, what it looks like as a child grows, and one thing you can do at home to build it.
Solvly — the thinking-skills app for children 6–14 — is built around the first five of these skills. Learn how it works →
The core five
- Decision-making (in children)
noticing a choice exists, weighing it, and owning the result.
- Leadership skills (in children)
taking responsibility for an outcome others depend on.
- Analytical thinking (for children)
finding the real problem beneath the obvious one.
- System design (for children)
seeing how parts connect into a whole.
- Emotional intelligence (in children)
noticing, naming, and managing feelings — one’s own and others’.
Category terms
- Thinking skills
the broad set of reasoning and judgment abilities beyond memorised content.
- Social-emotional learning (SEL)
how children develop self-awareness, relationship, and decision skills.
- Critical thinking (in children)
judging whether a claim is actually true.
- Growth mindset
the belief that ability grows with effort.
- Reflective thinking / metacognition (for kids)
thinking about one’s own thinking.