The Size of the Problem

Whenever we’re around other people, we’re involved in problem solving as a means to figure out how to act, what to say, and how to keep ourselves and others feeling comfortable together. Social problem solving is complex and requires us to consider many different aspects of a situation and the people in it.

Before you think about teaching problem solving to your child, we encourage you to first think about your own adult experiences with in-the-moment problem solving. Have you ever overacted to a problem? Most of us have experienced times when our reaction didn’t match the actual size of the problem! And, we may have noticed the response in others or the consequences that followed. While we all want our children to become more successful with problem solving, we need to keep in mind that if we, as adults who have had years of practice, still struggle with this in our own lives, it’s unrealistic to expect to teach kids to fully control their own behaviors and problem solve without hiccups. It’s a learning process for us all!

This week we introduced the "Size of the Problem scale" to all students. The size of the problem
scale is a tool students can use to help them become better at problem solving a situation.

Goal: 

• ⦁  Problems come in different sizes
• ⦁  Emotions and reactions come in different sizes
• ⦁  Reactions come from emotions
• ⦁  It’s expected that the size of the emotion and related reaction matches the size of the problem.
  ****In the end, students become more aware of their emotions and reaction, contributing to them learning better self-regulations. 

0. By teaching the above concepts, we help establish norms around defining and emotionally responding to a problem. With our early learners we want children to better understand that when they share space and interact with others, they constantly have to problem solve. When problems occur, there are expectations for how they will respond or try to respond to them.
   By teaching children to be aware of the size of the problem, size of the emotion and size of the related reaction, we are helping them think about their problems and learn that they can have control over how they react to different problems.
   
   
   examples: 
   
   
   • ⦁  “I really wanted to wear my green shirt today, but I spilled yogurt on it. I was disappointed. I thought about how I could wash it and wear it another day. I stayed calm and changed into another shirt. It was just a small problem, no big deal.”
     ⦁  “When I went to the store they were all out of bananas. That wasn’t my plan. I was calm and chose apples instead. I can get bananas next time. I was proud of myself for being flexible and having a small reaction to a small problem.”
     
     We will continue to utilize this tool to help work through problems that occur throughout a school day. 
     
     Thanks,
     Mr. Roberts, Ms. Sharon and Mrs. Keehn
     "The Hub"