I bet you had seen little conflicts of your children in your home over a toy or mathematical problem. And you shouldn’t push yourself in everytime because they won’t learn anything by the conflicts until they solve it by themselves.
But the question is how do you teach problem solving skills to your children at home? If you are trying to figure it out, then keep reading because I’ve compiled a guide on how to teach problem solving to children at home.
So, let’s get going!
Why Is It Important to Teach Problem Solving Skills?
Teaching problem solving skills to your children will help them equip and adapt to critical thinking to navigate complex situations.
When they have such abilities, they can compete with real world challenges in their career-pursuing journey. Let’s discuss key problem solving stats to know their importance:
In August 2024, D. Clark (🔗) showcased the results of the conducted survey, which was on what skills were lacking in applicants in skill-shortage vacancies in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2017.
- Specialist knowledge and Skills: 65%
- Problem Solving Skills: 41%
- Knowledge of Products and Services Offered: 38%
- Knowledge of How Organization Works: 32%
- Statistical Skills: 27%
These stats showcase that 41% of the applicants lacked the complex problem solving skills that were the main hindrance. In this way, they weren’t eligible to pursue the job for what they had applied.
How to Teach Problem Solving Skills to Kids?
Here are some key factors for developing problem solving skills within your children at home.
Firstly, you need to teach children about how to identify problem, whether it is complex or easy to solve. Further, encourage them to write and define the problem first because as Charles Kettering said, “A problem well-stated is a problem half-solved.
When they have done this once, then there is a higher possibility that they will adopt the habit. That’s the way they can pull out the solution easily by just understanding and writing the complex problems down.
When your children come to you and ask for a solution to their problems, then don’t give the solutions instantly. But pull out some questions that are cues about their problems and open-ended questions will help them get clues about the solution.
In addition, you are also allowed to tell them the answer or solution to their problems but in coded pattern. For instance, if they ask the solution to 2+54, then don’t shout 56, but explain the problem in simple words and ask questions related to solutions.
Critical thinking is intellectual thinking objectively, reasoned judgment, and evaluating arguments about a certain task. When your children ask a technical question about the problem they’ve faced, then don’t go straight to the answer. (🔗)
Although you can because you understand, they don’t so encourage them to think critically and solve the problem. This approach is one of the most appealing factors in teaching problem solving to your kids in order to help them understand.
Games are a great source of entertainment and learning something exceptional that is not possible by anything else. There are a variety of special learning games for children to play where they have to solve a problem to score.
In addition, games are optimized with well engaged designs and captivating problems that teach problem solving to children. This approach is one of the fun ways to teach problem solving to children outside while keeping them engaged.
Children’s morale is boosted when someone asks for their help to find solutions because they are born scientists and inventors. Therefore, you should boost their morale by asking for their help in your mundane tasks or specifically according to theirs.
In this way, you also evaluate the problem solving techniques of your children to later improve the strategies. And being a responsible parent, you should do the same to your children until they are mature and enough powerful.
To teach problem solving to children, teaching them about failure is necessary to accommodate their problems first and give solutions. You should tell them that failure is inevitable, but giving up is an option that they shouldn’t go for.
Encourage them to do their best next time when they feel low after failure and normalize this thing because people fail. Life is stronger than you thing that it can bring down the most powerful person even.
Once Socrates said, “Wonder is the Beginning of Wisdom.” So, encourage your children to find out the science behind the magic they see with their naked eyes. The reason behind this is that they take an interest in those things that leave them in wonder.
When they start thinking about the process, then a natural instinct will be developed in their mind. This instinct will stay with them forever and encourage them to think about the behind the scenes in every problem they face.
Curricular activities are something else and reading books is something else because what To Kill a Mockingbird can teach them isn’t possible by academic books. You can order thrift books from Pango Books or order new ones from BookFinder to develop their interest in reading.
That’s a potential and very helpful way to teach problem solving to children at home while keeping an eye on them. Further, you can engage them in moral activities to know their humanity factor while leading them to become leaders.
Albert Einstein once said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” When curiosity raises hands on a solution of how it happens, why it happens, and whether can I do this with my own experience.
Then the real fight comes to face the children to discover the complete procedure of how the solution comes and where it comes. In this way, children discover the answer themselves which will also become their habit and consider adopting for a lifetime.
Before You Start
Well, these are some of the best ways to teach problem solving to children that you can implement to teach. From identifying problems to boosting their curiosity, these techniques are proven and majorly assist your children in adopting complex problem solving skills.
Remember, communication skills are also as important as problem solving because without communication skills your children can’t find a solution. So, teach your children some helpful skills to help them live better in their lives.
