cate: "I understand what you're doing, and I know it's important."
Create accepting environments where children feel free to express their ideas without fear of being wrong or of not being taken seriously. Make sure your setting is a protective "laboratory" where children know they can experiment and practice problem-solving skills throughout each day.
Give children opportunities for open ended play activities in long periods of time. Create opportunities for children to initiate and solve their own problems and plenty of time to test out possible ideas and solutions.
As a facilitator:
Watch for times when children are engaged in problem solving and interject provocative questions to propel them into new ways of thinking. Remember open-ended, divergent questions have many possible answers and, so, invite children to think and problemsolve. Closed-ended, convergent questions have right and wrong answers and can actually block children's thinking processes. (See "What Makes a Good Question?" below).
Encourage children to express themselves. Rather than telling children about what they can make at the art table today, try showing them the materials and inviting them to brainstorm ideas. You might say, "I need your help. I brought in this bag full of art materials. What do you think we can make?" Then let children act on their ideas and make whatever they choose, offering your suggestions too. This approach is a very successful way to help children feel comfortable solving problems. When they see that you don't have one "right" answer or method in mind, they can move past fears of being "wrong" and draw on their wonderful creative thinking.
Provide a variety of problem-solving experiences. Offer games, puzzles, discussions, literature, and projects that children design - a wide range of activities that inspire creative and critical thinking and encourage children to stretch their minds.
As a model:
Think about your own approach to problem solving. Whether you're aware of it or not, children are always watching you. They observe how you deal with problems as examples of ways they might solve problems themselves. Talk about problem solving. When problems arise in the room, discuss your thought processes as you work through the problem. For example, you might say, "I have a problem. I planned to put out finger-painting materials today, but we've run out of finger-painting paper. What do you think we should do? Should we use different paper? I wonder how that would work? Should we wait until tomorrow because I can buy some tonight? Or maybe I could ask the teacher next door if she has some we could borrow " In other words, model fluid thinking and a positive attitude as well as a process for solving the small problems of everyday life. And involve children further by asking them to suggest their own solutions.
Emphasize the vocabulary of problem solving. As you speak with children, use the words problem, think, ideas, and solve. Children will begin to use them to define and describe their own thinking.
Be willing to make mistakes. It is reassuring to children to discover that adults make mistakes too. So let children see some of the mistakes you make, then ask them to help you solve the resulting problems. They feel important and, at the same time, learn that making mistakes isn't really such a bad thing after all. Instead, it's an opportunity for learning.
Problem solving is not about memorizing facts like the names of colors or shapes or the letters of the alphabet. Instead, it is about using two very important skills - the ability to think logically and the ability to think creatively when using and applying facts to solve problems. Child-centered, child-- initiated problem-solving activities play a vital role in developing children's ability to learn, think, feel confident, and be competent at understanding their world. What could be more important!
If the Shoe Fits by Carolyn Chapman (Skylight); Rethinking the Brain: New Insights into Early Development by Rima Shore (Family and Work Institute); Suppose the Wolf Were an Octo