In our first guest post, Parenting & Education Writer Rhonda Cratty discusses how parents can help equip children for solving problems and making decisions.
Teachers, managers, scientists, engineers, computer technicians and lawyers are constantly be challenged to make decisions and solve problems. Even in our everyday lives we’re challenged to make touch decisions. Every day we work at choosing issues that require attention, setting goals, finding or designing suitable courses of action, evaluating and choosing among alternative actions, and finally decision making.
Nothing is more important for our children to learn than to problem solve effectively. For our children to learn when they have a decision to make, they need to look at all the options, then realize that some choices will be challenging and take careful thought and consideration. They may need to choose between two equally good options and begin to waver back and forth. This is normal, however, there are techniques that they can fall back on when trying to make a difficult decision or solve a problem that seems unsolvable. Your child may not be able to solve every problem this way; however, they will help them to have a plan for when they need to make a decision or solve a problem. What you are building is self-confidence so that your child sees himself/herself as a competent person, and believes he/she can solve any problem they are facing with a little hard work.
1. They need to approach each situation with confidence and willingness to devote time and effort to find an appropriate solution to their problems. Let them see you struggle until you learn to solve everyday problems.
2. First, they need to gather information about the problem. Making sure, they are trying to solve the “real” problem. Sometimes a child’s answer will be completely different than the real problem. This step involves your child thinking about understanding the problem. It will be helpful for them to prioritize the steps in the problem and deal with each one separately. Your child will be developing the ability to break a problem down into its sub-parts and look at the parts closely to see how they fit together.
3. Once they have broken the problem down into its sub-parts, have them think: What have they done in the past when this type of problem has occurred? What possible solutions have they come up with before? What options do they have?
4. They need to learn to ask themselves: How realistic are their options?
5. Once your child has examined options and decided on. One that seems to accomplish their goals they need to give it their best effort. Realizing that sometimes they may find that the solution is just not working, revise and try something else.
6. Make it a family motto to never give up hope because with persistence and best efforts, our children can make difficult decisions and can solve problems.
Parents can help their children realize that problems are challenges. If parents help their children break the problem down into parts, they can begin to provide their child with valuable skills that they can apply time and time in many learning and life situations. If our children learn a clear and systematic way of tackling problems, which works for them in most cases, it will give them a greater sense of self-confidence and will contribute to their sense of self-esteem.
Problem solving involves logic, associative reasoning, creative thinking and deductive reasoning to move from a set of given principles or circumstances to the desired result. Our children need a lot of practice and support to become expert problem-solvers.
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