Cognitive (thinking) flexibility is required in multiple ways throughout the school day.

Research has shown that cognitive flexibility plays a key role in all types of learning. It predicted reading skills in second graders and was a significant predictor for both math and reading skills in children between the ages of 4 and 13 years.

What is cognitive flexibility?

This is the ability to adapt to new situations and deal with change. In other words, adjusting behavior to unexpected changes. It allows children to change the way they think about something and look at it differently.

Flexible thinking begins in early childhood. Young children complete simple puzzles and play games that require changes in their thinking and behavior.

When you taught your toddler to tie her shoe laces, you probably used the method in which she made each lace into a loop. Sometime later, you taught her the method where she made one loop and wrapped the other lace around it.

She must unlearn the first method to learn the second. If she is flexible in her thinking, changing to tie her laces the second way will be easy.

Why is cognitive flexibility important for learning?

This ability is important because children have to switch mental gears when going from one subject to another. They have to change their way of thinking about a problem when it does not lead to a solution and think of something else. If they learned something the wrong way, they must be able to give up the erroneous information to accept the new and correct material.

Being able to quickly adapt to new situations increases your child’s brain function.

Here are some ways children use this skill for learning:

1. In everyday learning
   • Like in the shoelace tying example above.
2. In reading
   • From kindergarten to grade three, children learn to read. When learning about words with multiple meanings, it is flexible thinking that enables them to understand that the same word can have more than one meaning, hence be used in different ways.
   • From grade four onward, they read to learn. Flexible thinking helps them understand the varying perspectives of different characters in a story, for instance.
3. In writing
   • Writing requires children to keep the main idea in mind while adding supporting details.
   • In addition, they must check their grammar and spelling to avoid mistakes.
4. In Language
   • Cognitive flexibility is needed to learn the rules of language and understand that there are exceptions to those rules.
5. In Math
   • Flexible thinking is key for solving word problems and understanding some math terms, like knowing that “how many in all” refers to addition.
6. In studying
   • When doing homework, children must switch between subjects. Each subject requires a different thinking strategy. Flexible thinking enables them to change their thinking to tackle each one.

How can you tell if your child has trouble with organization?

If your child is rigid in his thinking, he may:

• Have trouble identifying the correct pronunciation for words
• Interpret concepts too literally
• Not have enough supporting details in his writing
• Have lots of errors in his writing
• Have trouble learning the rules of language in a structured (classroom) setting
• Struggle with math problems that require abstract reasoning
• Have difficulty switching from one subject to another during homework time.

How can you help your child develop cognitive flexibility skills?

There are tools and strategies that can help your child think less rigidly.

These 5 strategies can help you improve her cognitive flexibility:

1. Make up new rules for games
   • Once your child is comfortable with simple switches, try combining the rules of two games to make a new game.
2. Play strategy and logic games, like Tic Tac Toe and Mancala
   • Teach your child to think out loud as she plays and tries to solve problems in the game.
3. Find more than one way to do regular, everyday things
   • Have your child make a favorite sandwich or dish using a different sequence of actions.
4. Have your child learn something new.
   • Novelty helps mental flexibility.
   • Learn to dance; cook a new recipe.
5. At random times, change up her regular routine
   • Alter the order of his day.
   • Take a different route to a place you visit regularly.
   • Plan a “surprise” outing in the park on your way to the store.

Most importantly, model flexible thinking. When unexpected things happen during your day, act calmly and actively welcome the change. Talk about it while it is happening, letting your child in on your thought process.

When you observe and determine that your child has weak cognitive flexibility skills, you can help her adapt quickly and readily to the unknown, improvise, and shift approaches as she encounters different challenges. You can positively impact her confidence and enjoyment in learning new skills.

What strategy would you use for improving flexible thinking?