Teaching Kids to Solve Their Own Problems?

If there was ever a photo that summed up Katie . Big smile, mismatched shoes that she chose, and jumping off of something (but usually something a few feet higher!) They performed their Hanukkah show at school today so I got to hang out with her on the playground after and watch her play. It’s pretty cool to see her in her element with her peers.

She looked so grown up calling her friends by their names and starting to actually play with them instead of just parallel play. The school is pretty hands off during free play so I tried to follow suit, but it’s hard not to intervene sometimes. I watched her try to get on the see-saw while another kid was bouncing it on one end, and I wanted so badly to tell him to stop for a sec so she could get on, or to tell her to ask him to stop so she could get on… but I bit my tongue.

She struggled with it for a solid minute before she decided to go play something else instead. As hard as it was to watch, I know it helps her learn to solve her own problems, and she did by deciding to move on and will probably never think about it again. And then here I am, mulling it over, wondering if I did the right thing by not intervening…