Problem solving skills help kids to come up with different approaches towards the task at hand.
Children are able to understand the problem better and find effective solutions for them.
They know how to deal with a problem in a comprehensive manner by using “What, If” analysis instead of getting subsumed with the problem.
As kids are able to understand the context of the situation using multiple approaches , they are able to arrive at meaningful and effective solutions for the problem.
Developing problem solving skills during early childhood has a great pay-off later!
By using problem solving skills, kids learn to develop a strong mental attitude and can handle tough situations with ease as they grow up.
They grow up to becoming strong, mature and evolved adults who have a knack of solving things easily instead of complicating them.
When teachers ask kids questions such as “ what do you think if ….?” or “what do you think can be a better method to ….?” ; kids are being pushed to use their own creativity and talent to find a solution to a problem.
What are the examples of problem solving skills?
The first key skill that help kids to find meaningful, multiple solutions to the problem is “Active listening”.
When a kid develops the trait of hearing out others completely, they become better problem solvers.
The kids are able to “analyse” the questions and comprehend them completely.
Kids use their own “creativity” and “research” techniques to understand how a better solution can be worked out for the issues at hand.
This improves their “dependability” and enhances their “communication skills”.
It also makes them a “team-player” and they are good “decision -makers” as they take a 360 degree approach to problem solving instead of a bird’s eye view.
Why is it important to develop problem solving skills?
When a child is leveraging his ability to solve problems, it adds to his/her confidence.
With increased confidence, kids are able to perform much better academically.
This prepares them for taking future roles with grit and creativity.
Kids are able to resolve conflicts and come out of a distressing situation with ease.
It builds their resilience and a lot of these skills are learnt from teachers at school as school provides a safe and controlled environment to the kids to identify issues, come up with varied solutions, see which route works best for them in a given situation.
They are thus, able to analyse different outcomes and able to choose the most feasible solution thereby strengthening their decision making ability from early childhood.
This will eventually transform them to becoming more mature, dependable and resilient kids with a knack of solving issues with multiple approaches.
They also become effective listeners and good communicators.
How to develop problem solving skills among kids?
Some of the approaches wherein parents can work towards building problem solving abilities among kids from early childhood itself are discussed below.
1. Allow kids the freedom to do things their way: Do not over-shadow them in every task they are doing. By giving them too many directives, a parent will curb the kid’s ability to think creatively.
2. Ask kids for feedback: When kids take part in the different activities at home , for example, ” what gift to buy for a birthday party” , “how the kid would like to celebrate his/her birthday”; kids would develop their decision making abilities.
3. Interact through stories: Tell them some good stories befitting their age and ask them questions such as “Do you think it was the right action on the part of …?”, ” What do you think the person should do in this situation” etc. This forces the kid to think creatively. Who knows he/she can become the best selling author in times to come!
4. Allow kids to fail: Parents have the tendency to be over-caring and over-protective which is extremely harmful for kid’s holistic development. Do not offer your help in every school assignment or DIY tasks. They can come up with more innovative solutions than yours so give them the space to learn by themselves.
5. Play with kids: Different kinds of games such as puzzles, memory games, board games, activity books, building blocks are designed to develop thinking ability and analysing the different possible outcomes. Therefore, encourage all family members to bond over these activities that also develops multiple cognitive skills.
Conclusion:
Developing problem solving skills from early childhood helps kids to take decisions related to their studies, career and relationships with ease in the later stages of life.
So, just be a little more creative and encourage them to analyse, think and give their feedback and suggestions on different activities happening around you.
Let them work independently and do not try to solve every possible thing for them.
Allow them to seek help from friends, teachers and family members on their own.
This would help kids to grow into more balanced and happy adults.
In order to improve memory of children, parents are always looking out for tips and techniques that are easy and give fast results. From giving almonds to meditation, parents try out different ways to improve the memory power of their child.
Here, we are sharing with you 7 simple but effective ways to improve memory and boost the confidence of your kids. A strong and confident kid grows into an emotionally stable individual that contributes towards the growth of its family and society at large.
It is extremely important to take small steps at a very early age so that there are no learning disabilities in the formative years. A child is like clay that can be molded into any direction by his/her parents.
That’s why the early years are very important as they form the building blocks of future growth and progress. Parents usually get disheartened by seeing low marks or weak performance in different activities in school. They do not understand the underlying causes which further adds to the distress of both the kid and the parent.
At times, the fewer marks can be due to lack of focus and weak memorizing skills. In the earlier articles, have discussed ways to improve focus.
Few easy steps to improve memory of children
In this article, we are discussing easy ways to improve memory that would in turn help to build confifdence of the kid. These tips do not require a lot of effort from the parents or kids.
They just need consistency, communication, understanding, and role modeling on behalf of parents. The impact of these simple practices is life long as good habits once formed at this stage become a part and parcel of the kid’s entire journey.
As he grows up, he/she visualizes the world through this creative prism and builds a more successful path for himself/ herself.
1.Give positive feedback to kids: Ask kids to do small activities like watering the plants, feeding the pets, arranging toys, etc, and always appreciate their efforts. Positive words have a good impact on their mind. It helps them to build a relationship between different activities and their desired outcome thus helping them to build patterns in their mind that helps to improve the memory power of the child.
When adults use positive language for the kids, the associations that kids create are also positive and result in defining the kid’s outlook on different things that happen around them. Kids are very smart, if a parent scolds them or beats them then they will create negative imagery of that action and never do it again. These create lasting impression in the minds of the kids and hence arouses negative memory patterns.
So, every feedback given to the kid should be positive and carefully crafted.
The power of positive words works wonders!
2. Playing games: While it is difficult to step out to play due to the COVID 19 pandemic but kids should be encouraged to play indoor games. Needless to say, they should play lesser on mobiles, tablets, PCs, etc and more board games.
They can choose different kinds of games depending upon the age of the kid such as chess, scrabble, sudoku, picture-match, tongue twisters, recall the items from a picture, etc that pushes the kid to think and recollect.
This is an excellent routine buster and aids in improving the memory of the child. When kids try to memorize and learn things through games, they pick-up information faster and it stays with them for a longer time.
Add games to sharpen the memory
3.Add super-foods to daily diet: Vegetables of different colors, Honey, Almonds, Berries, Apple, Oatmeal, Eggs, Avocados, Milk, and Yoghurt are great superfoods to be given to kids daily that helps to improve focus and memory.
These foods nourish the brain and provide the necessary nutrients for growth and improving memory power.
It is very important that kids get all the required nutrients as that aids in boosting their immunity, enhancing focus, and improving memory.
Add superfoods for growth
4. Create a schedule: By creating a daily plan of activities, kids get accustomed to their schedule that later helps them to grow into mentally strong and disciplined individuals. For example, if the kid starts playing chess daily, he is more likely to pursue it further and might become a very good chess player.
Similarly, if the kid starts reading storybooks daily the habit will build focus, concentration, vocabulary, and memory of kids. The elements of creative thinking, visualization, planning help to bolster the kid’s memory in the long run.
improve child memory powerValue time, practice discipline
5. Extracurricular Activities: Activities like dance, drama, music, public speaking, etc improve focus, recall, and sharpen the memory.
They also add to the kid’s confidence and improve social skills. Through these activities, kids learn to excel in different fields and grow up as multi-faceted individuals.
Add some fun
6. Encourage kids to ask questions: Curiosity is the mother of all inventions. Had there been no curiosity, no invention would have taken place on this planet.
Never scold your little ones or even your teenage kids from asking questions.
If today, they are encouraged to ask-what, why, when, how, etc, then they would be able to relate better to the things around them and create a better future for themselves.
By encouraging them to ask questions, you are also trying to understand their world better. This helps to make the bond between parent and kid stronger!
The more kids question, the better their understanding
7. Let them teach you: The younger kids usually like this activity as they get to teach their parents.
It is a very simple but effective trick for improving the memory power of kids.
As the child is explaining the concept, he/she uses her own example and method of teaching. It forces them to visualize things and they also use examples that are more related to their surroundings.
It helps them to grasp things faster in a manner that is more relatable to them. This improves their mental growth as well.
Why are the above steps effective in improving the memory of children?
-The above-mentioned techniques are kid-friendly and playful in nature so the kids are able to show results faster.
-No additional stress is put on parents or kids; so the growth is consistent and easy.
-These techniques not only help to improve memory power but also aid in holistic growth and development.
– It also improves the bond between the kids and the elders in their family especially the parents.
The pandemic has brought different kinds of challenges for everyone. While the professional challenges have been much talked and discussed everywhere, even our little toddlers and school goers are facing varied problems.
Their life is now limited to electronic gadgets and e-learning. Earlier, kids could have fun and recreation at multiple places- at school, inside the classroom, during lunch breaks, at the playground, and while commuting to and fro in the school van or bus.
Kids also had the option to take part in different indoor and outdoor games. They also pursued skill-enhancement and hobby courses. Now, all learning has rapidly transformed into e-learning.
Whether it is a chess class or a guitar class, school learning, or additional coaching classes-kids are glued to the laptop, tablet, or mobile screens.
In the present situation, while e-learning has helped to mitigate the impact of Covid 19 on education, here is a list of 7 steps to improve focus and boost productivity among kids:
7 PROVEN TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE FOCUS AND GET BETTER MARKS AT SCHOOL
1. Spend time with nature: Do not look at the electronic screens immediately after getting up. Spend at least 10 minutes daily after getting up to look at the sky, the greenery, and the nature around you. It gives a lot of positive energy and helps to uplift mood so that the kids can focus better on their studies.
2.Meditate: The benefits of meditation are known to one and all. For kids, it can be turned into a playful activity than a mundane task. Ask your kid to look at any object and focus on it for 10 minutes daily. He/She can also close the eyes and focus on its image in the mind itself. This has a very calming impact on the mind, body, and soul and it energizes the kid to comprehend better.
3.Eat seasonal fruits and vegetables: During Covid19, one key advice that came from all corners was to improve immunity by adding fruits and vegetables to the daily diet of the kids. Fruits and vegetables strengthen the brain and body by providing vitamins, minerals, and trace elements required for growth. “Amla” or Indian gooseberry is a, must-have, nutrient-rich superfood to be given to kids daily.
4. Stretches for good health: Stretches help to increase the flexibility of the muscles improving the kid’s overall physical being. Coupled with good nutrition, stretches help kids to gain height. Stretches also help to remove the pain in the neck, shoulder, and head that your kid might develop due to stress. Regular stretching is a boon for both mind and body.
5. Take mental notes: Encourage your kid to visualize and re-look at the learnings of the day in various subjects just before going to bed. This activity does not take more than 15 minutes but has a far-reaching impact. Various studies prove the power of the subconscious mind that helps to build successful grown-ups. By doing a quick mental revision of whatever was taught during the day, the kid can assimilate better that improves the learning process.
6. Plan ahead: Encourage your kid to prepare a time-table for the week. You can help him/her do the same so that there is lesser pressure of studies during the examination period. Explain your kid the benefits of being persistent. No challenge is big enough provided it is broken down into bite-size pieces.
7. Sleep Well: At no cost, the sleep of your child should be compromised. A sleep-deprived child tends to lose focus easily, will have difficulty in grasping new concepts, and can develop communication issues as well. However, if the child is consistent with his/her daily work and studies, he/she will get enough time to relax and sleep tight.
Conclusion:
Every parent wants their child to perform well in different fields.
The key to success is not only hard work but a whole lot of factors like persistence, a good environment, healthy food, proper exercise, adequate rest, and planning well so that there is no stress on body and mind.
By following the simple tricks as mentioned above, your child’s focus and productivity are bound to increase and you will be amazed to see the results!
