For education practitioners who teach philosophy to children, designing courses is a key challenge. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it proposes a stage-based spectrum for analyzing philosophy in courses for children and applies this spectrum to analyze four sets of common courses or teaching materials used in Taiwan, namely Lipman’s children’s philosophy textbooks, Oscar Brenifeir’s philosophy textbook for children, Pan Hsiao-Huei’s (Fu Jen Catholic University) work on philosophy classes for children, and Chi Chien-Chih’s (Huafan University) readings on philosophy for children. The stage-based spectrum can help practitioners gain a more comprehensive understanding of the content of these courses.
Second, the article introduces the author’s design for children’s reading classes based on the history of Western philosophy. The author proposes exposing children to stories of philosophers to help them understand the spirit of various eras and the values of various cultures and to cultivate their in-depth thinking skills. Finally, the stage-based spectrum is used to analyze the author’s own teaching materials, aiming to systematically understand and create various philosophy courses for children.