Young children naturally solve problems in their daily lives and can be encouraged to do so by parents and teachers. For example, they may want to figure out how long they'll need to save their allowance in order to buy a particular toy, or how to divide a pizza equally among all the guests at a birthday party. In partnership with an older sibling or an adult, they often can solve their own problems long before encountering similar problems in the classroom. As teachers introduce new topics in the classroom, they can capitalize on children's natural curiosity. As we've seen, problem solving involves much more than solving word or story problems that accompany a new skill or concept in a textbook. True problem-solving tasks occur in a context where the solution path is not readily apparent; students have to identify the problem, decide on the solution method, and then implement it.

  Defining the Problem-Solving Standard