Problem Solving with Young Children: Building Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Resilience

Problem

Solving

with Young

Children

Building Creativity,

Critical Thinking,

and Resilience

Ann Gadzikowski

Published by Redleaf Press

10 Yorkton Court

St. Paul, MN 55117

www.redleafpress.org

© 2022 by Ann Gadzikowski

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted on a specific page, no portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photo-copying, recording, or capturing on any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a critical article or review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper, or electronically transmitted on radio, television, or the internet.

Wally’s Stories: Conversations in the Kindergarten by Vivian Gussin Paley, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Copyright © 1981 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The image on page 44 is Bloom’s Taxonomy image by Patricia Armstrong, Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Copyright © 2010. Retrieved March 9, 2022, https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy.

First edition 2022

Cover design by Jesse Hughes

Cover photographs/illustrations by Leonid / pahis / Olesia Bilkei / Halfpoint / fizkes / stock.adobe.com

Interior design by Douglas Schmitz

Typeset in Utopia and Protipo

Printed in the United States of America

29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Gadzikowski, Ann, author.

Title: Problem solving with young children : building creativity, critical thinking, and resilience / Ann Gadzikowski.

Description: St. Paul : Redleaf Press, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: Turn everyday frustrations into teachable moments. Young children encounter problems, mistakes, and accidents that challenge them daily. Helping children conquer everyday frustrations fosters the creativity, critical thinking, and resilience that enables children to thrive in a formidable world -- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022012216 (print) | LCCN 2022012217 (ebook) | ISBN 9781605547671 (paperback) | ISBN 9781605547688 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Problem solving--Study and teaching (Early childhood)--Activity programs. | Critical thinking--Study and teaching (Early childhood)--Activity programs. | Creative thinking--Study and teaching (Early childhood)--Activity programs. | Resilience (Personality trait) in children.

Classification: LCC LB1139.35.A37 G338 2022 (print) | LCC LB1139.35.A37 (ebook) | DDC 370.15/24--dc23/eng/20220427

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022012216

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022012217

Printed on acid-free paper

To new teachers everywhere,

may your journey begin

with joy and grace.

And in grateful recognition of

Mary Pat Martin,

my first mentor.

Contents

FOREWORD

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CHAPTER 1: LOOKING FOR THE LIGHT IN BROKEN PLACES

CHAPTER 2: THINKING AND LEARNING

CHAPTER 3: THE BRAVE TEACHER

CHAPTER 4: ENGAGING IN INQUIRY

CHAPTER 5: SOLVING PROBLEMS DAY BY DAY

CHAPTER 6: MAKING FRIENDS AND GETTING ALONG

CHAPTER 7: COMMUNICATING TO SOLVE PROBLEMS

CHAPTER 8: PLAYING WITH PROBLEMS

CHAPTER 9: MEASURING GROWTH

CHAPTER 10: CELEBRATING PROBLEMS

REFERENCES

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

INDEX

Foreword

Uh-oh! Blocks crash, a child cries, and a teacher comes running. I didn’t do it! Am I in trouble? The teacher might be wondering the same thing if a colleague, administrator, or parent is watching this moment of distress and disarray in the classroom. After reading Problem Solving with Young Children, we can see that no one is in trouble. On the contrary, we are all in luck.

Ann Gadzikowski has written this guidebook for teachers, caregivers, and school administrators, capturing what an experienced early childhood teacher says when the unexpected happens. This book is both practical and well-grounded in current educational and child development research. Ann captures how teachers think when they are on the same wavelength as the children in their care, becoming the teachers children need in each new moment of surprise, distress, or challenge.

Ann takes us to the place where problems and mistakes are the opposite of trouble, where children and teachers remain open to opportunities for learning that involve thinking, feeling, and strengthening relationships with peers and teachers. The result frees everyone from feeling blamed; it clears the air so problem solving can begin carrying everyone forward into a new place of understanding where things work more smoothly once again. When problems are resolved, children come to trust one another and their teacher more deeply, trusting the process of learning in school.

Ann illustrates how teachers working within a variety of curricular approaches can bring a sensitivity to children’s fears and an awareness of the kinds of issues children worry about when questions emerge or uncertainty arises. She reminds us that these are exactly the moments we need for learning to happen, and she helps us remember how to receive and enter these most important and valuable moments of the day. She sets out what teachers think and do in unsettled moments: how to move into the scene, hold each child in safety, and respond to the dilemma at hand with confidence.

The author models the playful, inquisitive way teachers and children connect with one another when children are having a good day in school. The key to the approach she offers is to forgo judging the child or oneself when slipups happen and problems unfold. In these moments, our feelings of annoyance or frustration can strangle our ability to reason well and teach. Instead, Ann invites us to be curious about what just happened, asking what kind of problem has just surfaced, welcoming it, and approaching the moment with a series of questions.

One of the most helpful ways to learn and grow in the craft of teaching is to visit the classrooms of more-experienced teachers to observe and discuss what is unfolding. In today’s world, with many strains on a teacher’s time, visiting classrooms is not always possible. A strength of Ann’s book is the way she draws on the writings of master teacher Vivian Gussin Paley, one of her role models and one of the best we have in educational literature. Mrs. Paley’s books attest to the premise that problems are everywhere in a classroom, whether they come cloaked in complaints concerning what’s fair, the frequent misunderstandings that emerge in pretend play, challenges when negotiating friendships, or many other forms. Ann discusses a variety of excerpts from Mrs. Paley’s work to provide a snapshot of the principles of problem solving at work among young children and their teacher.

This book is written for beginners, and as I read it, I realized that all of us are beginners at times. The author explores the scenes of everyday moments of surprise, upset, curiosity, and disappointment that shape every single day for teachers and children: in the classroom, on the playground, and likely at home. The author invites us to approach moments when something breaks or spills, a feeling gets hurt, or materials are lost or misplaced with excitement, knowing that the children and teacher are a few moments away from a breakthrough, a resolution. The author’s approach here is so simple that it might seem on first read as if, Of course! I can do this! But some days even a veteran teacher finds that the problems come too fast and relentlessly to feel sure about anything. This book prepares the beginner and reminds those with experience how to respond: how to start a conversation that will calm and open the way to resolution with everyone involved, including parents when needed.

The pressures on teachers can sometimes leave us forgetting our best skills momentarily. Having this book in the classroom and on the kitchen table at home can remind novices and more veteran teachers how to step back into our best selves to create the setting and relationships where we thrive and can’t wait to come back for more. This book makes clear what we do as professional teachers who bring children together into a powerful community experience of safety, fairness, kindness, and clear reasoning.

Teachers are the emissaries for children’s futures. We have the opportunity to provide children with daily problem-solving experiences that will serve them well as they face futures full of serious and complex problems. As Ann writes, Problems are an unlimited natural resource in your classroom. With this book in hand, teachers can align their teaching with solving problems while simultaneously preparing children to tackle challenges in a collaborative, thoughtful way that will strengthen the society of the future. Teaching young children is rewarding because we step into a place of hope every day. This book reminds us how to find a route forward that holds promise for all children’s futures, and how to travel that pathway with them frequently.

—Gillian Dowley McNamee, PhD

Professor, Early Childhood Education

Erikson Institute

Acknowledgments

The day I interviewed for my first preschool teaching job, Chicago had just experienced a torrential rain and severe thunderstorms. Power was out in some areas, and many streets were flooded. I arrived at Evanston Day Nursery (EDN) late in the afternoon. There were still half a dozen children who had not yet been picked up. I observed how the teachers took the children outdoors to see the flooded playground. The children were fascinated by the way the sandbox had transformed from a play area into a small lake. I saw how the teachers listened to their questions and encouraged their interest. One of the teachers helped the children find leaves and sticks to float on the surface of the water. I could see that this school was a place where a negative setback like a summer storm could become inspiration for curiosity and exploration.

I got that teaching job at EDN, and most everything I’ve done in early childhood education has been shaped by my experience there. I’m grateful to the amazing educators who were my EDN coworkers, including Mary Pat Martin, Teri Talan, Delores Malone, Jim Gillette, and Larissa Mulholland, to name just a few. I’m also grateful to the many educators from other programs who contributed their ideas and examples for this book. Thank you, all, for sharing your wisdom with me.

I also want to thank Redleaf Press and Think Small for supporting my work as an author for more than a decade now. A special thank-you goes to my editor Melissa York for her kindness and expertise.

CHAPTER 1

Looking for the Light in Broken Places

Young children today are growing up in a world with deep and complex problems. Climate change. Natural disasters. Deadly pandemics. Gun violence. Systemic racism and inequality. Even on a good day, the world can seem broken beyond repair. And yet our work as teachers and caregivers for children requires us to find light and joy in the broken places.

But here’s the good news. The actual process of solving problems is where we find that light and joy. The profound creativity and resilience of human beings is demonstrated in the ways we have overcome the most difficult challenges. Look at the development of vaccines for COVID-19. In record time, scientists came together and produced not just one but several highly effective vaccines. And what we have learned along the way will help us develop other vaccines and treatments for future diseases.

As educators, we must think of problems as an unlimited natural resource generated inside our own classrooms. Every problem, large or small, is an opportunity to learn and grow.

Embrace Mistakes

For