Skills for Tomorrow
Month 4 - Problem Solving
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Introduction. The Power of Problem Solving
Begin by introducing problem solving as an essential life skill. Talk with the class about what it means to notice when something is not working and to think carefully about how to improve it. Help children understand that good problem solvers stay calm, ask questions, and try different approaches. When children develop this skill, the classroom becomes a place of curiosity, confidence, and creative thinking.
After watching the Marie Curie video, guide a conversation about how she solved complex problems. Ask the children to notice how she experimented again and again, adjusted her methods, and did not give up when things were difficult. Look for early skills such as persistence, careful observation, flexible thinking, and learning from mistakes.
Encourage the children to share times when they have solved a problem at home or at school. Help them reflect on how it felt to keep trying and finally find a solution. This sets the tone for the month and shows that every challenge is an opportunity to think more deeply and grow stronger as a learner.
This month we are learning about another important life skill. Problem solving. This means noticing when something is not working, thinking carefully about it, and trying different ways to make it better. When we are good problem solvers, we stay calm, we ask questions, and we keep going even when things feel a little tricky.
We will begin by watching a short animated video about Marie Curie, a scientist who spent her life asking questions and solving problems that no one else could answer. After the video you will talk together as a class. How did Marie show problem-solving? What did she do when her experiments did not work the first time? How did her thinking and perseverance change the world?
Then, just like Marie Curie, you will take on your own problem-solving challenge. It might be fixing something that is not working in the classroom, finding a new way to complete a task, or choosing one real problem and testing different ideas until you find a solution.
Throughout the month you will discover that problem solving is not about getting the right answer straight away. It is about thinking, testing, and learning from each attempt. You will learn that when you keep trying, you grow more confident, more creative, and more ready to face bigger challenges.
Remember, problem solving begins with curiosity. When we ask why and what if, and refuse to give up, our class, our school, and our world become places where solutions are always possible.
Print Your Skills for Tomorrow Booklet
Help children personalise their Problem Solving Booklet. Explain that it will be their special place to record the challenges they have explored, the ideas they have tested, and the solutions they have discovered throughout the month. Model how to write simple reflections about a problem they faced, what they tried first, and what they decided to try next.
Support the children in understanding that keeping track of their own thinking helps them see how much they are growing. When they reflect on the steps they took, they begin to recognise that mistakes are part of learning. Look for fine motor skills during writing and drawing, clear communication as they explain their reasoning, and growing confidence as they describe how they worked through each challenge.
As you begin this month’s challenge, you will need a special place to record all the progress you make. We have created a Problem Solving Booklet just for you.
Print your own copy and, as you complete each activity, fill it in to show the problems you explored, the ideas you tested, and the solutions you discovered along the way. You can record the times you had to think again, try a different method, or look at a challenge from a new angle. One day, when you finish the whole course, you will be able to look back and remember how you learned to think carefully, stay patient, and solve problems with confidence.
Remember, there are twelve booklets to collect during your journey.
Tell Us About Yourself. ‘Things I am Afraid of.’
Use this activity to help children recognise their individuality before they explore problem solving. Guide gentle conversations about the kinds of challenges that interest them and the questions they naturally ask. Help them see that everyone thinks in slightly different ways and that these differences make our classroom stronger when we work through problems together.
Look for self awareness, confidence when sharing ideas, and respect for the thinking of others. Encourage children to notice similarities in the types of problems they want to solve and celebrate the different approaches they might take. This creates a calm and inclusive foundation for understanding that every challenge can be explored from more than one perspective.
Before we start this month’s journey, we would love to know a little bit about you.
On the first page of your booklet, tell us about some problems or challenges you would like to get better at solving. It might be something that feels tricky at school, something that sometimes goes wrong at home, or something in the world that makes you curious and want to find answers. Then use the box to draw a picture that shows you thinking, exploring, or working through a challenge. Colour it in to make it bright and full of ideas.
This is your chance to make your booklet truly yours, so have fun and be creative. Remember, problem solving begins with curiosity, noticing what feels difficult, and believing that with patience and effort you can always find a way forward.
Read This Week’s Story. The Girl Who Glowed in the Dark
Read or play the Marie Curie story and guide a calm reflective discussion on how problem solving shaped her life. Ask the children how her curiosity, careful thinking, and perseverance helped her discover new knowledge and inspire others.
Look for comprehension skills, early critical thinking, and connections to real life moments when the children have solved a problem or worked through something difficult. Encourage them to share examples of times they have fixed something that was broken, found a new way to complete a task, or kept trying until they understood something challenging.
This story sets the emotional tone for the month and helps children understand that problem solving can lead to powerful discoveries and meaningful change in the world around them.
Each month, you will read the true story of a remarkable person who shows us how to use the skill we are learning to practise.
This week, we are focusing on problem solving, and we will be reading the story of Marie Curie, the girl who grew up to ask brave questions and solve mysteries that no one else could understand.
Marie was born in Poland and spent her childhood wondering how and why things worked. She loved learning and was not afraid of difficult questions. When she grew older, she travelled to Paris to study science, even when it was not easy for women to do so. Through patience, careful experiments, and endless determination, she discovered new elements and changed the way the world understood science and medicine.
Read or listen to the story opposite, then talk with your friends about what you learned from Marie’s journey.
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Comprehension Questions. Marie Curie and Problem Solving
Guide children in choosing another well known problem solver from the list. Talk with them about how this person faced challenges, asked thoughtful questions, and found creative solutions.
Support the children as they search for simple, age appropriate facts and encourage them to talk about what they discover with their friends.
Look for curiosity, careful questioning, and confident sharing during this research time. This task strengthens communication, early planning, and presentation skills while helping children understand that problem solving can lead to real discoveries and positive change in the world.
To learn more about this inspiring scientist and how she developed the powerful skill of problem solving, read the story opposite carefully.
Look at the questions, explore the key vocabulary, and try to fill in the missing words in the sentences.
Work with the friends around you to complete your task card. Talk about what you have learned, ask each other questions, and share your ideas.
Let us discover how Marie Curie solved complex problems and showed us that when we stay curious, think carefully, and keep trying, we can find solutions that change the world.
Research. Choose Your Inspirational Person
Guide children in choosing another inspiring problem solver from the list. Talk with them about how this person faced challenges, asked thoughtful questions, or found new ways to improve something important. Support their research by helping them find simple, age-appropriate facts and encouraging them to discuss these with their peers.
Look for curiosity, questioning, and growing confidence as they share what they have learned. This task strengthens communication, early planning, and presentation skills while helping children see how problem solving can lead to real discoveries and meaningful achievements.
Now that you have learned all about Marie Curie and how she used problem-solving to make incredible discoveries, it is your turn.
Choose one of the twelve inspirational people from our list. Once you have chosen, go home and do your own research about them. Use your research booklet to record three amazing facts about how they solved problems, overcame challenges, or discovered something new. Then draw a picture of them to bring your research to life.
Research. Choose Your Inspirational Person
Introduce the idea of a month long problem solving challenge. Help the children choose simple, realistic challenges they can return to each day, such as improving something in the classroom that is not working well, finding a better way to organise shared materials, solving a small friendship difficulty, or practising a skill that feels challenging.
Encourage gentle goal setting and personal ownership. Look for initiative, flexible thinking, patience, and steady effort. Use circle time to talk about progress, reflect on strategies that worked, and explore new ideas when something does not go to plan. This helps children understand that problem solving grows through daily practice, thoughtful reflection, and the courage to try again.
Now that you are becoming an expert in problem solving, it is time to start strengthening this skill in your own life.
This month, we want you to choose one real problem or challenge and keep working on it for the whole month. The secret to building strong problem solving skills is to stay curious, think carefully, and keep trying even when it feels a little difficult.
Look at the list of possible challenges and pick one that you believe you can explore and improve until the very end of the month. Once you have chosen, write down why you picked that challenge and what you hope to discover or improve by thinking carefully and testing new ideas each day.
Let Us Make Something
Encourage the children to look at the list of fifty creative options and choose one independently. Explain that this is their opportunity to decide how they would like to show what they have learned about Marie Curie.
Give them time to plan and gather what they need. Look for independence, thoughtful decision making, and personal expression. Remind the children that their work should teach others something important about Marie’s life and how she demonstrated problem solving through curiosity, perseverance, and careful experimentation.
With your new knowledge of Marie Curie, it is time to make something that shows how much you have learned about her life. There are fifty different options to choose from. Pick just one.
You can work with your friends or on your own to create something special about her story. Use your project to teach others about the remarkable life of Marie Curie and the way she showed the world that careful thinking, perseverance, and problem solving can lead to discoveries that change lives.
Keep on Track. Problem Solving in Action
Model how to record daily problem solving efforts and support the children as they complete their checklist. Talk together about what strategies worked well each day and what might need to change. Use this time to highlight the importance of consistency, reflection, and taking ownership of their thinking.
Look for clear communication, growing independence, and flexible decision making. Encourage children to recognise their own persistence and to celebrate when others try new approaches too. This builds confidence, strengthens collaboration, and helps them understand that thoughtful problem solving creates a positive and capable classroom community for everyone.
This is the part of the course where you keep building your problem solving skills and show how your daily thinking makes a difference.
We have created a daily checklist for you to write one simple sentence each day about how you worked through a challenge. It might be trying a new strategy, adjusting something that was not working, asking a helpful question, or testing an idea that kept your challenge moving forward.
If you are improving something in the classroom, tell us what you changed today. If you have chosen to practise a skill that feels difficult, write down what you tried and what you noticed. This part is all about showing that small thoughtful steps and steady effort lead to real solutions.
At the end of each week, take a photo, print it, and stick it in the space provided as proof that you are thinking carefully, learning from each attempt, and growing stronger as a problem solver every day
Reflection and Quiz. Month Four
Facilitate a gentle reflective conversation about what the children have learned about problem solving this month. Support them as they complete their written reflections and their online quiz.
Look for evidence of self assessment, an understanding of what thoughtful problem solving looks like, and recognition of how persistence and flexible thinking have helped them grow. Celebrate their efforts with a small class moment of recognition and encourage them to share examples of times when they felt proud of working through a challenge and finding a solution.
You have now completed the fourth month of your Kindergarten Diploma and you are moving closer to earning your full certificate at the end of the year.
There is still a journey ahead, but this is the moment to pause and think about how you feel after spending a whole month learning about problem solving and strengthening your ability to think through challenges. Take your time to answer the questions opposite in your Skills for Tomorrow booklet. Then complete your online quiz by clicking the button below.
When you are finished, take a photo of yourself holding your certificate and place it next to your sentences to celebrate completing Month Four of this special journey we are on together.
Well done for showing the power of problem solving in your everyday thinking and actions.
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Getting Your Certificate
This final step builds reflection, recall, and self-assessment skills. The quiz reinforces students’ understanding of determination, resilience, and growth while rewarding their effort with certification. Encourage learners to view the certificate as a symbol of their personal progress, not just a score.
Consider reviewing key ideas beforehand, offering support where needed, and celebrating every student’s achievement. Extension: invite learners to share one way they will apply determination in their own lives to strengthen lasting impact.
You have explored the power of problem solving — learning how to stay calm, think carefully, and try different ideas when something feels tricky.
Now it’s time to complete your short quiz. If you achieve 80% or more, you will receive your certificate to celebrate your effort and perseverance.
Well done for showing that when we keep trying and think creatively, we can solve problems and make our classroom, school, and world a better place.
