Assisting Children to Better Solve Problems

2. Teach children to expect, anticipate and look forward to the challenges/opportunities that problems bring.  Last week at the American Camp Association Spring Leadership Conference, Michael Brandwein spoke about this exact topic and how the best leaders for children can create an environment and culture in which problems are not only taught to be expected, but are actually celebrated as opportunities.  He also spoke about the importance of cheering children on to encourage them and to let them know that you believe in their ability to find creative solutions.  One of my favorite phrases at Quest is actually just to remind my campers that they are “great problem solvers” and “I am excited to see what they are going to come up with.”  A lot of times you will see my campers’ whole demeanors change when we make statements like this or when I see my staff say something like “I know you are a great problem solver.  What do you think you could do to solve this?”

3.  Help Kids Regulate Their Emotions So That They Can Problem Solve. Beckham Linton and Michelle Garcia Winner write about how “our ability to regulate our emotions in problem situations greatly influences how effectively we are able to solve the problems we face.  In fact, emotion regulation is frequently the determining factor in whether or not the problem is solved and how easy or difficult it is to do so.” [1]  They cite assisting kids to accurately reflect the size of the problem and the reaction to the problem as helpful strategies.

4.  Defining Socially-Based Problems.

Linton and Winner also define a social problem to include:

-understanding the stated or hidden social rules-what’s expected in any given situation,

-understanding the reactions of others, especially when the behavior is unexpected,

-understanding the perspectives and emotions of others

They note that conflict can arise when someone has a very different point of view or interpretation of the “rules” in the situation.  They report that it is important when working with someone with social learning difficulties that it is often helpful to first define the actual problem from multiple people’s perspectives, which helps people to understand what the socially-based problem is. [2]

5.  Help Kids To Have Problem Solving Discussions.  Often kids need supportive adults to assist them by facilitating their problem solving discussions.  The level of facilitation can vary based on skill level of the pair or group.  Support may just be in the form of helping them realize that their is a problem to be solved and cheering them on.  Other pairs or groups need support with emotion regulation, turn taking in speaking, respectful dialog and assistance with reviewing social rules and concepts that might be relevant.  With time and practice, less support will be needed.

[1-2] Linton, B., Winner, M.G. Learning to take control of emotional reactions as part of problem solving,  September 24, 2015, www.socialthinking.com