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Problem Solving Builder
Sharing Experiences"You dummy!" That´s what kids said to me when I told them about my foot getting caught in the spokes of my brother´s bike. I was barefoot, the bike hit a bump, my foot went into the wheel; it came out with a spoke in it. Nobody had to remind me again. I wear shoes when I ride a bike. That´s one way to learn. Children like to hear stories like this. And it opens doors to conversations about far more deadly consequences for children who today don´t listen to the warning about how to be safe ... safe from drugs, safe from AIDS, safe from crime. While no one can promise complete safety, there are precautions that help. Sparking the ConversationToday children have to listen and learn before they experiment. There is a lot of information around. Talk to your kids about all those other kids, the ones who need the lecture. Ask, how can we reach them? Brainstorm ideas. What are pluses and minuses of each one? Even young children can get into the habit. For example, ask, "How can we get Uncle Jim to stop smoking? Any ideas?" Some ideas will be better than others. Those are the ones you save, and you keep one handy to try out the next time you see Uncle Jim. Problem-Solving Builder: Newspaper ActivityClip paragraphs from the newspaper. Cut and separate the paragraphs and mix up the pieces. In many ways, writing is like making the pieces of a puzzle fit together. The puzzle pieces are thoughts. They need to connect. The challenge is for children to work these sentences back into a logical order. Moving to Bigger QuestionsTry some of these with your young problem solvers. To get more kids to say no to drugs, what will it take? How do we keep our friends from being "dummies"? Ideas build on one another. They have a terrific ability to keep flowing as long as we keep drawing from the well. © Dorothy Rich, 2000. The nonprofit Home and School Institute, sponsor of the MegaSkills program, was founded by Dr. Dorothy Rich in 1964. For information about bringing MegaSkills books and programs to your school and community group, contact: The Home and School Insitute, MegaSkills Education Center; 1500 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington DC 20005. Phone: (202) 466-3633. Fax: (202) 833-1400. www.MegaSkillsHSI.org Reprinted with permission. Intro | Newspaper Tips | NIE & You | Activities | MegaSkills | |||||
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