This week, we introduced the children to the concept of the Learning Pit.  This helps children understand how it feels when you learn something new – how you can get stuck along the way and feel frustrated, but you need to keep trying.  The grown-ups shared examples such as learning to drive.  Then, we gave the children a challenge to build the tallest freestanding tower using limited resources.  They had to work in teams and we stopped regularly to think about where they were in the pit. 

We were very impressed with their teamwork skills and how they managed feelings of frustration in a mature way.  For example, telling someone how they were feeling or stopping and taking some deep breaths.

At home, please encourage your child to talk about when they have been in the learning pit and what they did to try and get out of it.  This shows we value effort and resilience – valuable skills for life. See attached poster for more information.