{"id":15098,"date":"2019-10-27T10:37:11","date_gmt":"2019-10-27T15:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nogginbuilders.com\/?p=15098"},"modified":"2019-10-27T10:49:41","modified_gmt":"2019-10-27T15:49:41","slug":"are-you-raising-a-problem-solver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nogginbuilders.com\/NBwp\/2019\/10\/are-you-raising-a-problem-solver\/","title":{"rendered":"Are you raising a problem-solver?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We\u2019ve all seen it happen: A child in our care is stumped by a challenge.
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A 3-year-old\u2019s tower of blocks keeps falling over and she can\u2019t figure out why. A first grader is trying to mix paints to get green and keeps making brown. A 12-year-old routinely forgets to bring his lunch to school.
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What do we adults do? Do we rebuild the tower, show the first grader that it\u2019s blue plus yellow? Bring the lunch to school ourselves?
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It\u2019s easy\u2014and natural\u2014to want to step in and help. But then, guess what? We\u2019re not really helping. Kids need to learn, in age-appropriate ways, how to solve their own problems.
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Developing kids\u2019 ability to think creatively and strategically means they\u2019ll be able to find solutions themselves\u2014that\u2019s our mission at Noggin Builders<\/a>. Your child may or may not grow up to become an engineer. But eventually, they\u2019ll need to navigate larger challenges on their own, like juggling a heavy college course load, traveling alone, or dealing with a difficult co-worker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They can succeed if they know the basic steps to approaching a problem<\/a>: assess the situation, brainstorm and evaluate options, pick a solution to try, and then test that idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adults should be coaches, not players<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re the forgetful 12-year-old\u2019s parent, what could you do instead of turning into a lunch delivery service? First, ask your child to consider why he keeps forgetting his lunch. Where\u2019s the breakdown? Then, what solutions can he think of (maybe setting an alarm on his phone or putting a Post-It note on the door)? Have him try different techniques to see what works best for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the case of the first-grader mixing paints, you can help frame the situation. \u201cSo you tried blue and red, and you tried red and yellow. What else can you try mixing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more suggestions, see <\/em>Tips for parents, below.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Robert Brooks<\/a>, an expert on children and resilience from Harvard Medical School, says it\u2019s never too early to start this process. \u201cWhen there\u2019s a problem, a parent can say to a child, \u2018Can you think of one or two ways to solve it?\u2019 So the message is constantly, \u2018You have the resources to come up with solutions yourself.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hands-on learning through STEM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, problem-solving isn\u2019t just for scientists. But STEM \u201cproblems\u201d provide a great means of teaching these strategies. Here are a few examples of challenges kids might tackle in Noggin Builders classes<\/a>:
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