Brainstorming
Now that we’ve identified a challenge to address, it is time for our creativity to flow by brainstorming solutions with your child(ren). In the design thinking work I’ve done, this is the part of the process when everything is possible.
Sometimes ideas will really feel like they come out of thin air, but other times, ideas come from past experience, research, or your trusted community. One fun way to prepare for your brainstorm is to ask everyone to get inspired by researching solutions. Googling the challenge can bring up Pinterest pages, blog posts, articles, videos, and more. Also, talking with other families about what they’ve tried and what they wished they might have done can be another source of inspiration for solutions. Have all the inspiration ideas ready to bring to the brainstorm session.
Brainstorming can really feel like a game which makes it fun, and all games have rules. I’ve taken brainstorming rules outlined by IDEO (a famous design studio) and adapted them for our needs. Here they are:
Anything is possible. For the moment, there are no constraints so the sky’s the limit on solutions.
Be open-minded and avoid judgment. Most of us are excellent at quickly deciding whether an idea is “good” or “bad” according to our thinking. Hold back on dismissing others’ ideas for now.
Build on each others’ ideas. More minds working together are better than one. Jump on the opportunity to use each other for inspiration.
Go for quantity, not quality. No need to be perfect here. Some of the best solutions are the 9th, 10th or 20th idea that is shared.
TRY IT: It is time to try brainstorming with your family.
Get everyone to sit around a table and share the brainstorming rules.
Make sure everyone has a bunch of post-its or pieces of paper and some pens (colored pens are fun to use).
Before the brainstorming starts, give everyone a chance to share some inspiration or research they discovered.
Get ready to brainstorm. I usually have at least two rounds of brainstorming so everyone has the opportunity to build on each others’ ideas. Get a timer ready and ask everyone to write or draw as many ideas as they possibly can to solve the current challenge in 5mins. Go! [Note: Some people will begin to feverishly write and write and write post-its, while others may take a little time to get going. That is fine and reassure everyone that however they are approaching brainstorming, it is okay.]
When 5mins is up, ask for pens downs. Then ask each person to share their post-its as they put them on a wall or window or share their ideas on pieces of papers as they lay them out in the center of the table. Remind everyone of Rule #2 - Be open-minded and avoid judgment - before sharing starts.
After sharing, go for Round 2. Again, brainstorming for 5mins. Round 2 is usually harder than Round 1 because everyone has to think of even more ideas. Remind everyone of Rule #3 - Build on each others’ ideas. That can help inspire more ideas. At the end of Round 2, share ideas again.
Now is the time to start to converge and begin the process of narrowing down possible solutions. With all ideas up on a wall or window or laid out on a table, everyone can work together to start to cluster ideas. Group similar ideas together and then label them with a category name. For example, if a learning challenge involves the current learning space, maybe one of the categories of ideas is all about lighting because the post-its read: “a new lamp needed”, “less glare on the computer”, “make light less bright”, etc.
From the clustered categories, ask everyone to vote on their top category that they want as their initial solution. The one with the most votes, can be the focus on the next action,Testing.
It is super important to note that this structure for brainstorming is just a structure. You can adapt it as needed. You can do all the brainstorming around a table without post-its, just ask your kids to share ideas and you can jot them down. You can do one round of brainstorming or you can do four rounds.The main goal is to involve your kids in co-creating solutions to their challenges. This co-creation will help them become stronger self-directed learners since they will have practice solving their own learning challenges.
Also, some negotiation and mediation may be needed here if more than one child is involved in brainstorming solutions to a common learning challenge. You can definitely decide to test different solutions with different children.
Next up will be a discussion of finding out what happens by TESTING.
Reach out for additional personalized guidance about supporting your child(ren)’s remote/hybrid learning or homeschooling.
