Problem Solving

Problem Solving

Problem solving is a part of daily life for children and is fostered in a flexible environment that promotes exploration and experimentation (Catron & Allen, 2003; Seefeldt & Galper, 2004). Children are naturally curious and motivated to pursue questions and solve problems about why things happen and how things work, first through sensory exploration and gradually by using mathematics and science tools and logic to represent their thinking.

Children’s problem solving parallels the development of their thinking, proceeding from concrete to abstract. At first, they model solutions to problems with concrete objects and then proceed to relying less on objects and more on recall and reasoning (Campbell, 1999; Charlesworth, 2005).