Help your child for life!
Every day we are faced with problems to solve - some little, some big.
And if you are a parent, you will find yourself solving MANY problems each day. Fair to say, we do so much problem solving for our kids.
“Oh, you’ve wet your top, I’ll get you a new one”
“You spilt the milk, I’ll wipe it up.”
“It’s raining outside, I’ll get you a jacket”
But did you know that by solving our children's everyday problems for them, we rob THEM the chance to develop key skills which will set them up for life!
Just like us, children will be presented with problems; things breaking or getting lost, confusion around tasks, working out misunderstandings or differences in friendships and play - many of which happen when we’re not there!! If we can teach them the skills to problem solve, this will help them for years to come.
So what to do?
Here’s some ideas to teach problem solving skills with preschoolers and primary school aged children.
Help your child name the problem. Talk about what you see and how that could feel.
Example: “What’s not working?” or “What’s the hard part? Ohhhh, the glue ran out. That’s a bit annoying”
2. Then think of a few solutions, just in case 1 doesn’t work.
Example: “Hmmm what can we do? Any ideas?” (Give the chance for your child to come up with ideas - realistic or silly! If they need help, you can make some suggestions)
“We could look for more glue or what else would be sticky?” (see if they have the answer) “Sticky tape! And if sticky tape doesn’t work, where could we buy more glue?”
3. Give it a try! Work through any of the ideas to see which ones work.
Once your child has seen this process happen, you can start to step back to give them the chance to try it for themselves.
** A child’s (and an adult’s) emotional regulation can definitely affect this process!! If they are in a heightened state of emotion e.g., tiredness, anger, sadness, then problem solving can be tricky. We can help to teach calming strategies before the problem solving begins … though this sounds like a post for another time!
About the writer:
Lauren is a speech pathologist who has over 15 years experience working with children and teenagers who present with a range of learning and communication difficulties. Lauren is passionate about helping others and loves to find simple and creative ways to make learning fun!
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