Starting around age 6 children have the ability to problem solve. A good way to teach these skills is to hold regular family meetings conducted with rules. Children will feel they have a stake in what gets decided and be more likely to abide by family rules.
Starting around age 6 children have the ability to problem solve.
A good way to teach these skills is to hold regular family meetings conducted with rules.
Make it formal. Set a time and place that is reserved for this meeting.
Make it regular-every week is best so that issues don't stack up.
Make sure each person is heard without judgment or interruption.
Start with the person who has a concern then ask each other person their
ideas about this concern. No on should say bad things about the concern or
about the other people.
Discuss and plan fun activities so meetings are not just about
negative things.
Express appreciation for each other as a regular part of the meeting.
For instance, each person might thank a family member for help that week or
praise some accomplishment they had.
If there are problems to talk about, clearly define the concern
and write it down in specific terms.
Ask each other family member to give their thoughts about the problem.
Make a list of possible solutions. Include some very unusual but unlikely
ideas to free up the thinking. For instance, one solution to sharing toys would
be to buy two of everything.
Cross out ideas that just can't work and combine the others into a plan
with each person's job for the plan written down.
Write down conclusions and try them for 2-3 weeks then discuss them
again to see if the problem has been solved.
Have it be fun! Serve snacks or tell jokes at the meeting too!
