Teaching the value of problem solving.
Schools understand the value of teaching problem solving. The style of teaching often taught is through an inquiry approach whereby questioning and problem solving play a very big part in how children are taught to learn.
With this in mind, as a parent, teaching problem solving from an early age makes a lot of sense. Consider some of the advantages.
Strategies to support your child’s ability to problem solve.
If you are encouraging problem solving you are inviting your child to solve their own problems. You are also encouraging independent thinking and risk taking. You are in effect teaching your child that making mistakes, trialling ways to solve problems and ‘having a go’ are valuable tools in working out how to solve life issues. As a parent you are teaching them to rely on their own ingenuity, creativity and common sense. You have confidence in their own decision making.
Let’s look at some strategies to support your child’s ability to problem solve.
Be the model and talk to your child about how you brainstorm issues when you have a problem. Demonstrate some recent examples of how you dealt with some problems that needed careful thought.
Teaching a child to list some options they may be thinking about to solve a problem is useful.
“Try listing three ways you could solve that problem”,
“Great now let’s discuss each option and see how it would work for you.”
Some children enjoy having a problem-solving book where they write in optional ways to look at the problem.
How about the what, where, how and why questions. This can be a habit to ask the children when they talk about a problem
What is it that you are solving as a problem?
How can you solve it?
Where is it to be dealt with?
What are you dealing with?
These four questions help a child think a bit deeper about the problem they aim to solve.
Another tool to help a child solve the problem is to simply write down the problem. Some children reflect more deeply when they see the problem written down on paper.
A few tips to make the process work well.
Have faith in your child’s ability to work it out. Be patient.
Ensure that your body language is always positive when a child offers suggestions.
Affirm their efforts.
“Well done for thinking of that as an option.”
Allow them to make mistakes and reassure them that this is part of the process.
Remind them of famous people such as Einstein who only learnt through practice and making errors.
Encourage perseverance.
“Great effort. Have you planned any further direction with that problem?”
In working with children with regard to school issues such as friendship problems, anxiety about poor performance etc., it was most important to firstly talk about the success you had noticed in previous attempts.
