You Can Make Smart Decisions Every Day!

Every day, you make decisions big and small. A decision is when you choose one thing from different options. You make decisions about what to eat, how to solve a problem with a friend, or how to spend your time. Learning to make good decisions helps you in school, at home, and in your community. You can start building this skill by exploring Making Simple Decisions, which gives you a strong foundation.

Good decision makers follow helpful steps. First, you identify the problem you stop and clearly name what is wrong. Next, you think of solutions, which means coming up with more than one idea to fix the problem. Then you choose the best solution by thinking about what is safe, fair, and kind to others. Finally, you try the solution and check if it worked. If it did not work, you try a new idea.

Thinking about how your choice affects other people is very important. When you ask yourself, "How will this affect others?" you make fairer and kinder decisions. You can learn more about this through Making Good Choices.

Brainstorming means thinking of as many ideas as possible without judging them right away. It helps you find creative solutions. After brainstorming, you can compare your ideas and pick the best one.

Sometimes you and another person want different things. A compromise is when both people give a little and get a little, so the solution is fair for everyone. Taking turns is a great example of compromise. You can practice finding fair solutions by visiting Finding Solutions.

A responsible decision is one that is safe and fair for everyone involved. When you make a responsible decision, you think about others, not just yourself. If you make a mistake, the responsible thing to do is apologize honestly and try to fix it. Learning from mistakes is an important part of growing as a decision maker.

Asking a trusted adult for help is also a responsible choice when a problem feels too big or unsafe to handle alone. You can explore how communities solve problems together through Community Problem Solving.

Choice: A choice is when you pick one thing from different options. For example, choosing to play outside or read a book is a choice.

Consequence: A consequence is the result or outcome that happens because of a decision you make. Consequences can be positive or negative. For example, if you share your crayons, the consequence might be that your friend feels happy.

Opinion: An opinion is what you personally think or believe about something. Your opinion might be different from someone else's, and that is okay.

Fair: Fair means treating everyone equally and making sure everyone gets what they need. A fair solution considers everyone's feelings.

Need: A need is something essential that you must have to survive, like food, water, or shelter.

Want: A want is something you would like to have but can live without, like a new toy or a special snack.

Save: To save means to keep your money for later instead of spending it right away.

Spend: To spend means to use your money to buy something now.

Brainstorming: Brainstorming means thinking of as many ideas as possible without judging them, so you have lots of options to choose from.

Compromise: A compromise is a solution where both people give a little and get a little, so the outcome is fair for everyone.

Responsible decision: A responsible decision is a choice that is safe, honest, and fair for everyone involved.

Identify a problem: To identify a problem means to clearly notice and name exactly what the difficulty is before trying to fix it.

Evaluate: To evaluate means to check whether your solution actually worked after you tried it.

You can practice making decisions every day. Try making a list of good and bad things about each choice before you decide this is called weighing the pros and cons. You can also practice brainstorming with a friend or family member to come up with creative solutions together.

When you disagree with someone, try using a compromise. Think about what is fair for both of you. You can also practice voting as a group so everyone has a fair say. These skills connect to what you will learn in Analyzing Evidence in Innovation, where you think carefully before drawing conclusions.

You have already started learning about decisions. In Making Simple Decisions, you learned how to make basic choices. In Making Choices, you explored how to pick between options. In Finding Solutions, you practiced coming up with ideas to fix problems. All of these skills come together now as you learn to make thoughtful, responsible decisions.

Making decisions connects to many other important topics you will explore. Community Problem Solving shows you how groups of people work together to make decisions that help everyone. Making Good Choices helps you think about how to choose wisely in everyday situations. Analyzing Evidence in Innovation teaches you to look carefully at information before making a decision.

The skills you build here will prepare you for more advanced topics. In Decision Making, you will go deeper into strategies for making important choices. In Democratic Processes, you will discover how communities and countries make big decisions together fairly, using voting and discussion just like you practice in your classroom every day.